The Magazine For ALL Commodore Computer Users
August/ September 1985
NEW AMIGA DRIVES COMPETITORS APE
Liz Deal:
Spooling on the B-128
Keeping Victor Vibrant
Butterfield on Spaghetti
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BETTER INTEGRATION THAN LOTUS 1-2-3 * OR SYMPHONY*
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□ DATABASE MANAGER
| WORD PROCESSING
Q SPELLING CHECKER
| SPREADSHEET / GRAPHICS
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COPYRIGHT 1985 BY BRIAN MORROW
RHAPSODY will allow you to have SVak of file memory resident shared between
text in the word processor, a spreadsheet, three dimensional bar charts and
a data base, all instantly accessible by windowing to each menu.
All You'll Ever Need !
Suite 210, 5950 Cote des Neiges
Montreal, Quebec H3S 1Z6
Tel.: (514) 737-9335
12 land WmpfMfty «* trodimortJ & L<Mui 0«v*O(XWir Co*DO*Ot>00
$64.95
DEALER INQUIRIES INVITED
TPL3 Hagasha
Publisher: Louise Redgers
Editor: Nick Sullivan
Assistant Editor: Marya Miller
■ Production Assistant: Asifid Kumas
Cover Photo: Roberto Portolese Studio
Typesetting: Noesis, Toronto. Ontafio
Printing: Delta Web Graphics,
Scarborough, Ontario
: TPUG Magazine is published 10 times a year by
Toronto Pet Users' Group (TPUG) Inc., the world's
largest Commodore users' group. TPUG is a non-
profit corporation dedicated to the service and sup-
port of owners and users of Commodore computers.
All rights to material published in TPUG Magazine
are reserved by TPUG Inc., and no material may
be reprinted without written permission except
where specifically stated.
Correspondence: Send change of address and
subscription enquiries to. TPUG Inc., Address
Changes, 101 Duncan Mill Road, Suite G7, Toronto
ON, Canada M3B 123. TPUG magazine welcomes
freelance contributions on all aspects of Com-
■ modore computing. Contributions shoufd be sent.
on disk, though accompanying hardcopy is
welcome. Be sure to include return postage if you
wish materials returned. Please indicate on the disk
label which Commodore disk format and word pro-
cessing program you have used. Remuneration for
articles published is $30.00 per page if the author
retains the copyright, and $40.00 per page if the
copyright is assigned to TPUG Magazine. All con-
tributions are subject to editing for length and
readability. Address editorial contributions to; The
Editor, TPUG Magazine. 101 Duncan Mill Road,
Suite G7, Toronto ON, Canada M3B 1Z3.
Circulation:
Subscription 16.000 Newsstand 10,000
ISSN #0825-0367
V!C 20, Commodore 64 and SuperPET are trade-
marks of Commodore Eiectronics Ltd. PET is a
registered trademark of Commdore Business
. Machines, lnc,.GBM is airegisteted trademark of:
Commodore Electronics Ltd.
Subscriptions to TPUG Magazine may be obtained
by joining the Toronto PET Users' Group (TPUG) Inc.
Another benefit of TPUS membership is the right to
order inexpensive disks and tapes from the club's
: extensive software library. Yearly membership fees
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DIRECTORY
85
TPUG Magazine
SEP
Feature: The Amazing Amiga
6 The Amiga, Dawn of a New Era by Louise Redgers
8 A Technical Peek at the Amiga by Louise Redgers
Articles
10 The Joy (and Pain) of Spaghetti by Jim Butterfieid
12 Software Piracy by Bryan J. Lunt
14 The KEY Command in Simons' BASIC by Peter Moskos
15 A Writer's Database by Charles Lewis
16 A Beginner's BBS Guide: Part Four by tan A. Wright
18 Making Money with a VIC 20 by Michael D. Curran
19 Programmable Characters by Steven Darnoid
20 System Clock Frequencies James c. Halsey
Micro Processes
22 Micro-Memo by Ron Byers
23 The Software Jungle by J. Allan Farquharson
23 Spooling on the B1 26 by Elizabeth Deal
24 Keeping Victor Vibrant by Howard M. Mesick
25 Directory Subroutine by M. Garamszeghy
Reviews
30 F-15 Strike Eagle by Garold R. Stone
31 Cardkey by Mike Martin
31 1 660 Modem by Ajay Jindal
32 Screen Dumper 64 by Greg Payne
32 Graph ex by Greg Payne
33 Graphic Sr. by Mike Martin
34 BASIC-64 by Ranjan Bose
35 G-Wiz Interface by Ian A, Wright
35 Creative Writer by Michael Quigley
36 Assembly Language for Beginners by Michael Quigley
38 WATCOM Pascal by Mike Norman
Departments
2 Inside Information by Nick Sullivan
4 The Answer Desk with Malcolm O'Brien
10 New BBS Password
26 Additions to the TPUG Software Library
29 TPUG Software Order Form
38 Marketplace
40 Bulletin Board/Unclassified Ads
42 Products Received with Astrid Kumas
46 Calendar of TPUG Events
47 TPUG Magazine Distributors
48 TPUG Contacts
48 Index of Advertisers
Inside Information
Karl Hildon of The Transactor magazine
has a habit of signing off his editorials
with the phrase: "There's nothing as con-
stant as change." He knows what he's
talking about.
During the past two months we've
moved our offices (correspondents take
note) from our creaky old place on
Avenue Road to a more comfortable suite
in Don Mills, a few kilometres east of
Toronto's Yonge Street spine. That, more
than anything else, is why this issue of
TPUG Magazine is reaching you a couple
of weeks later than we had originally
planned. We're sorry about that — look
for future issues to gradually move back
towards our normal scheduling.
Meanwhile, Commodore has finally
managed to bring the fabled Amiga into
presentable form, and they are still claim-
ing that they'll have machines in US
stores some time in September, with
Canadian shipments beginning a month
later. We hope they can bring it off,
though the continued absence of the
C-128 from the marketplace makes a cer-
tain amount of skepticism pardonable. At
any rate, as Louise Redgers points out in
our feature article this month, Amiga
purchasers should not have to put up with
the software drought that has plagued
the introductions of other Commodore
machines — big name manufacturers like
Electronic Arts have been working on
Amiga titles for some time, and their
stuff should be ready to coincide with the
machine's release. Already the Amiga has
its own magazine, Amiga World, from
the publishers of RUN. Judging from the
premiere issue, it looks like the finest
magazine currently being produced for
any unavailable computer.
While we're on the subject of new
magazines, we should mention The
TORPET, which (as many of you know)
was once upon a time the official
magazine of the Toronto PET Users'
Group, edited and published by Bruce
Beach. The TORPET vanished around
the beginning of 1984, only to re-emerge
a couple of months ago — still published
by Bruce Beach — with a very different
face. Once concerned with Commodore
computers, The TORPET now focuses
exclusively on arcane possibilities in
oceanographic research, and the word
TORPET itself is now an ingenious
acronym reflecting this new direction. It
should be emphasized that the new
TORPET has no relation to Commodore
or any other species of computer, nor any
relation to TPUG.
PaperCIip Clobbers Big Guns
Those who have been making do with in-
expensive 8-bit machines for their word
processing until they can afford
something better, should perhaps think
again. At a word processing 'rally' held
at McMaster University in Hamilton,
Ontario, last May, the popular Batteries
Included program PaperCIip confounded
the experts by taking both the top places
in the price/performance category, com-
peting against big names like IBM,
Xerox, NCR and Olivetti. Even in the
competition for total points, PaperCIip
— which was the only home computer en-
try — finished a respectable fifteenth
among the fifty or so competitors.
PaperCIip won first place with an Atari
800 XL based system, and second place
with the Commodore 64. The rally was
sponsored by the Canadian Science
Writer's Association. Not surprisingly,
Batteries Included is hoping it will
become an annual event.
The OS/9 BASIC Benchmark
A few issues back, we reported a ben-
chmark test that pitted several BASIC
dialects against each other, including
PET 4.0 BASIC, IBM's BASIC-A,
Waterloo's mBASIC and BASIC-09 run-
ning under Super-OS/9, Reader Bob
Wherritt has sent us a version of the
same benchmark for the COMAL 2.01
cartridge, for the Commodore 64.
COMAL ran the test in 565 seconds, still
slower than BASIC-09, but faster than
any of the other BASICs tested. He also
reports that the benchmark times on his
SuperPET were slightly different than
our results (BASIC 4.0 was faster and
mBASIC was slower) and wonders if this
could be related to the three-board con-
figuration of his machine. Does anyone
know the answer?
Paper Chase
The paper we're using in this issue of
TPUG Magazine is not the paper we have
used in the past. Not only that, but don't
be surprised to see us change paper a
couple more times in months to come. In
July, the Canadian government in its in-
finite wisdom decided to jack up the
postal rates, especially those on third
class mail — the category in which we
belong. The extra cash that now goes to
the post office has to come from some-
where, and the most obvious somewhere
available to us was magazine paper, a
million or so pages of which are printed
every month. Please bear with us while
we hunt around for a less expensive paper
that suits us. With any luck, we won't
have to compromise quality in the long
run.
Library Additions
Back in January, we changed the format
for our listings of the additions to the
TPUG software library. Previously we
had reprinted the 'list-me' files found on
each disk; we abandoned that format in
favour of less comprehensive but more
detailed prose descriptions of the disk
contents. We have received reactions
both pro and con, the most commonly
voiced objection being that not all pro-
grams were always included in the
descriptions. Starting this month, we're
going to try for a compromise that we
hope will satisfy all readers. The
librarians will describe their new disks as
usual; however, we will also include on
the 'Library Additions' pages the actual
disk directories. Let us know how you fee!
about the new format — we want to make
the 'Library Additions' as useful as
possible.
Next Month
Our feature article next month will be on
computer music, with special reference to
the Commodore 64. Toronto writer Tim
Grantham will explain the strengths and
weaknesses of the 64's famous SID chip,
and will provide a comprehensive run-
down on the music products, software
and hardware, that you can buy.
We'll also be running a special article
on the Delphi and CompuServe informa-
tion services. It is our understanding at
press time that TPUG will have a
presence on these services starting
September 1 for CompuServe and Oct-
ober 1 for Delphi. Look for information
on special sign-up rates for TPUG
members.
Nick Sullivan
Editor
□
2 TPUG Magazine
THE ULTIMATE HUMAN TO COMPUTER INTERFACE
VOICEMA
JUST IMAGINE
YOUR COMPUTER TALKING TO YOU IN
A REAL HUMAN VOICE
YOUR COMPUTER UNDERSTANDING
WHAT YOU SAY
BEING ABLE TO WRITE MUSIC AND PLAY
AN INSTRUMENT JUST BY HUMMING. . .
THE VOICE MASTER - VOICE HARP
Voice Harp is a totally new musical concept
With Voice Master powerful software, you can
actually compose and perform music In real time
simply by humming, whistling or singing. It doesn't
matter if you can't read music. Your voice or
whistle pitch will write the notes foryou including
duration and rests.
As you hum or whistle, the notes scroll by
on the video display. You can edit the notes.
play them back, scroll them back and forth,
deleting and correcting them, when
finished, the score can be printed out
In the performance mode, you can
change octaves, musical keys or add chords
Even if you can't sing or have a sense of pitch, the
VOICE MASTER will show you how easy it is to
stay in tune.
QUALITY PRODUCTS AVAILABLE FROM
PHASE 4 DISTRIBUTORS
7157 Fisher Road, S.E., Calgary, Alberta T2H 0W4
(403) 252-0911
FOR YOUR NEAREST DEALER CALL
1-800-661-8358
The Answer Desk
with Malcolm O'Brien
Screaming, Jumping Gemini
/ am using a Gemini 10X printer with a
Cardco G + interface. These work har-
moniously on most of my programs;
however The Print Shop has been giving
me problems. I note with considerable
pleasure that Mike Martin mentions
Gemini in connection with his review of
The Print Shop in the May issue. My
problem is that I cannot find the right
combination of DIP switch settings to run
the print head smoothly when printing out
my creations on The Print Shop, Either
I get screams from the Gemini and a
cessation of printing part way through;
or else the print head moves so jerkily that
it actually throw's the ribbon. Any
suggestions?
R. L. Morris
Cultus Lake, BC
In order to ensure excellent results,
Broderbund has seen fit to support a
variety of popular printers (alas, the
1526/802 is not one of them). Do not use
the 1525 version with your interface set
for 'emulation' mode. Referring back to
Mike's article, he was very pleased with
his results and noted that all nine print
wires were active while printing. To get
these results, you should be using the
Gemini version of The Print Shop and
have your interface set to 'transparent'
mode so that the Gemini codes are passed
directly from The Print Shop to your
printer without any intermediate trans-
lation. Strange noises and jerky print-
head movement seem to be part and
parcel of graphics printing in general, so
you shouldn't be too concerned.
As for throwing the ribbon, a closer ex-
amination of your letter and envelope
revealed faint 'smudge lines' that lead me
to believe that you've installed your rib-
bon incorrectly. There's a metal sheet in
front of the printhead: if you put the rib-
bon in front of the metal piece, you'll get
some smudging, and occasionally throw
the ribbon. The ribbon should actually be
threaded between the printhead and the
metal piece. This will yield cleaner print
and an unthrowable ribbon.
Flexidraw update
J would like to respond to the letter by
Patrick B. Hagood of Ann Arbor,
Michigan, in your April issue.
Inkwell Systems has included a printer-
driver for the 1526 in its fifth update to
the Flexidraw light pen/graphics pro-
gram. Also, Flexidraw contains ten font
styles. Additional fonts may be created
with Inkwell's Flexifont program for use
with Flexidraw.
Interested Commodore users (in
Canada) should contact the advertisers on
pages 15 and 51 of the April TPUG
Magazine (Phase 4 Distributors and
Computer Networxx) for more
information.
I would also like to point out that Mr.
Hagood is not alone in his quest for 1526
support. Flexidraw 5 is a result of the
many letters we received from our
customers and interested Commodore
1526 owners.
Robert Thompson
Inkwell Systems
Thanks for your letter, Robert. And
thank you for being responsive to the
computing public. It's very encouraging
for users to see ongoing support and
periodic updates. An excellent product
has been made even better, and you're
certain to attract a new wave of devoted
customers as a result.
B-128 Load Address Problem
/ wrote a program on an 80S2 and
DSAVEd it onto a W40 disk drive. I later
loaded the program into a B-128, made
some changes and DSAVEd again. Now
when I load the program back into the
8032, the system crashes. Isn't there any
way to use the program in the 8082?
P. W. Kelley
Rapid City, SD
The 8032 will not relocate a program
when you DLOAD. It will always load a
program back into the same memory ad-
dresses that it was DSAVEd from. When
you save a BASIC program, it saves the
area of memory from the start of BASIC
(at memory address $0401 in the 8032)
up to the end of your program (which is
marked by the BASIC editor with three
zero bytes). The first two bytes of a pro-
gram file contain the address in memory
where the file was saved from (in stan-
dard low -byte/high-byte format). One of
the unusual things about the B-128 is that
its start of BASIC memory address is
$0002. This is the cause of the problem.
Your program is being loaded into the
8032's 'zero page'. The zero page is 256
bytes that are used by the operating
system to keep track of all the work it has
to do. Since your program is probably
longer than one block, it is also corrupt-
ing the 'stack' — another area of memory
that the operating system uses for tem-
porary storage of data. The effect is
analogous to suddenly forgetting every-
thing that you ever knew!
Fortunately, the solution is simple. All
you have to do is change those first two
bytes that tell the computer where the file
was saved from. The following program
will do the trick:
1 open £,8,0,"<source
■file name > "
£ open 3,3,3," < destin at i
on -file n ame > , p , w "
3 ge-t#£,a$,b3>
4 prin-t*3,chr*(l);chr*<4
>• :c0=0:c£=£:c3=3
5 get#c£,a*!ss=st
S pr intttc3, a*; : i-f ss=c0
goto 5
7 cl ose 3 : close £
Before you run this program on the 8032,
make sure that you have at least as many
blocks free on the disk as there are in the
source file. When the program ends, you
should be able to DLOAD, LIST and RUN
the destination file.
Superbase 64 hint
To search on a date, use the match criteria
< or >. Sliding matches do not work in
date fields. For example, if you want to
call up all the January records, use this
line:
find "Keyl ist " where
[date 3 is ">31DEC84";
[date! is "<01FEB85"
/ am willing to be a resource for The
Answer Desk. I have some experience pro-
gramming Superbase 64 and accessing
the printer features of the Gemini lOx and
the Card/Print + G interface through
Easy Script,
Cynthia Wood
HHB GA 82d AADCOM
APO, NY 09175
Thanks for the help, Cynthia. One man
does not an Answer Desk make. You can
expect to start getting some interesting
mail soon ... □
4 TPUG Magazine
VIZASTAR 64
TI IE INFORMATION PROCESSOR
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For COMMODORE 64
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if AT. I DU*l IMtftJ' '*S' S*<1LI HCKU*
WordPro GT
Get the famous word processor Word-Pro 64 with the GT cartridge
Loads in just 10 seconds!
Word-Pro 128
Pro-Line's famous word processor is now appearing in o C-l 28 version.
It works on 40 or 80 column screens and offers many enhanced
features.
Fischertechnik®
Robotics Automat Kit
For the Commodore 64, IBM & Apple
Easily build
10 different
intelligent
robotic
configurations,
from precision
robotic arms to
sorting machines
Simulate
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automated
equipment
Kit includ
interface.
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based on Superfofth
QUALITY PRODUCTS AVAILABLE FROM
PHASE 4 DISTRIBUTORS
7157 Fisher Road, S.E., Calgary, Alberta T2H 0W4
(403) 252-0911
FOR YOUR NEAREST DEALER CALL
1-800-661-8358
The Amiga,
Dawn of a New Era
by Louise Redgers
The launch of the Amiga on July 23 put
the computer world on the threshold of
a whole new era. With the colour, voice
and speed that the Macintosh lacks,
graphics that surpass the IBM PC, and
a new ease of use that will allow the
beginner to operate the machine with no
training, the Amiga appears destined to
be a hit for Commodore. Competitors
>hnuld be nervous about the future of
their machines in comparison to the
Amiga, on both price and performance
I mints.
For approximately three thousand
dollars Canadian {two thousand US) we
will be able to purchase a 512K Amiga
with an RGB monitor that will allow the
user to fully experience the colour and
graphics in 80 column mode. The machine
will also run off a colour TV or a com-
posite monitor in 40 or 60 column mode.
Complete with a built-in 3 1/4 inch 880K
disk drive, the unit is ready to attach to
standard RS 232 devices. It is noteworthy
that Commodore refuses to commit them-
selves as to the market niche for the
machine. In fact, they go out of their way
to avoid saying that the Amiga is either
a home or business computer. They do,
however, promise that this is the first of
a new family of computers.
The entire system (excluding the
monitor) weighs only about thirteen
pounds, but it is capable of the work of
much larger minicomputers. This new
generation of computer is to be known as
the 'Amiga from Commodore', not the
'Commodore Amiga'. Commodore is
desperately trying to get away from their
'computer toy' image, with this machine.
Commodore PC Compatible
The Amiga is based on the 68000 16/32
bit technology, and thus is not compati-
ble with any previous Commodore com-
puters except (using a special emulator)
the Commodore PC, a machine manufac-
tured in Germany for the European and
Canadian markets only. Within a few
months of Amiga's release (September in
the US, October in Canada), the PC
emulator and optional 5 1/4 inch floppy
disk drives will be available, so that the
vast amount of PC software can be run
on the machine. This will greatly enhance
the list of available software packages.
The cost of the emulator is to be about
150 dollars, and the disk drives have been
quoted at prices ranging from 325 dollars
US each to 650 dollars Canadian. This
will, of course, become clear at the time
of release.
With 256K bytes of RAM, expandable
up to 512K internally and up to 8 Mega-
bytes externally, there is ample room to
run even the largest business application
software. The system also has 192K of
ROM, which contains some of the oper-
ating system instructions, with the rest
loaded into RAM from disk. The oper-
ating system, AMIGA DOS, will be on
disk with the release version of the
machine; after loading, approximately
130K of user memory will remain (in the
256K configuration). Each machine will
also be shipped with a BASIC language
disk, like the IBM PC BASIC. The system
has a mouse as well, which can be used
if the operator desires, but all functions
can also be accessed via the keyboard.
The system uses icon driven menus,
operating on the simple principles made
familiar by the Macintosh. What is really
sensational, and destined perhaps to
bring about a great change in the way we
use our computers, is that this system is
truly multitasking. What exactly does
that mean? It means that I can now do
word processing while my data base of
twenty thousand customers is being
sorted into postal and zip code order,
while at the same time I am waiting for
my autodial modem to get me online to
the TPUG BBS. Word has it that some
thirty tasks can be performed simultane-
ously, depending on the size of the
various tasks and the amount of memory
available.
The keyboard is substantially different
from the one with which Commodore
users are familiar. It has the standard
typewriter layout, a 13-key numeric
keypad and ten programmable function
keys, as well as the standard cursor keys
and a HELP kev. Those who are used to
'-. : ;;
E3 JJJJJU
_JSI _J_J_J_J Pagel
is m mmi
on the MM PERSONAL COHPUTEB
Icon-driven, applications programs Like Textcraft, a word processor, will bring to Amiga
users the friendliness and ease of use pioneered by Apple's Macintosh computer.
6 TPUG Magazine
the IBM PC keyboard will find the touch
about the same, but the location and
usage considerably different.
Colour and communications
Communications capabilities are buijt in,
but a modem is required. Commodore is
recommending a 1200 baud modem, but
2400 baud will be available. Your choice
will be governed by your own communica-
tions needs.
The colours are exceptional. From 4096
available colours, a palette of 16 or 32 can
be chosen to work with at one time. The
exact number available depends on the
screen resolution being used. Possibilities
include 640 by 400 with 16 colours, 640
by 200 with 32 colours, 320 by 400 with
16 colours, and 320 by 200 with 32 col-
ours. The Amiga can display pictures of
the quality of the mandrill on this month's
front cover to the point where one can
hardly tell that they are computer pic-
tures at all. Designed for specialist uses,
such as the production of high quality
slide presentations, and for headlines for
TV newscasts, the system now opens up
a whole new market for the
microcomputer.
The Amiga can talk. With about twenty
lines of BASIC code, it can utilize
routines that allow speech synthesis.
While the voice has problems with pro-
nunciation of certain words, this can be
overcome with a quick change to the
phonetic spelling. With both a male and
female voice, the system has great poten-
tial for use with children and learning
software. The voice is quite clear, though
the accent may take a little getting used
to.
Icon driven music software will make
it easy to use the Amiga's powerful four-
channel sound synthesis capability. You
point the arrow at the instrument, set the
voices and the volume, and let it go. The
system comes with everything from a
pipe organ to an electric guitar to snare
drums. This should provide hours of en-
joyment to any computer music en-
thusiast, but going beyond this are the
possiblities for professional use with such
a high quality of sound. Background
music can be digitally recorded — and
recorded over — for sound mixing
capabilities that will rival expensive
sound studios. Some expansion of these
capabilities is planned, including a piano-
style keyboard.
Software available
Now comes the question of software.
Commodore has timed things so that soft-
ware should be available upon release,
and should keep coming while new devel-
opers begin working. A word processor
(Textcraft), accounting software (Rags
to Riches), a painting package (Graphi-
craft), an animation package (Movie-
craft), a C Compiler, Logo, a database
manager (Enable) and a spreadsheet, as
well as games and educational software,
will be available upon or within two
months of the Amiga's release. An op-
tional 20 megabyte hard disk and tape
backup from Tecmar will also be available
upon release. All the software shown at
the Canadian presentation appeared to be
working and ready for release. This
should keep at bay those who traditionally
complain that Commodore releases a
machine with no software to run on it.
The Amiga system will be marketed
through existing Commodore systems
dealers in Canada, as well as the few who
remain in the US. The bulk of the work
lying ahead for Commodore, though, is
to find new outlets for this sophisticated
machine. We will never see this one sold
in K-MART stores, as it requires a
substantial outlay of cash, and some
training is required to fully demonstrate
the machine's capabilities to potential
purchasers. However, with a new ex-
ecutive team and this superb machine,
Commodore should be able to emerge as
an industry leader at a time when other
manufacturers are struggling to survive.
□
OS /9 Software NOW AVAILABLE!!
Spreadsheet - DynaCalc US$99 CanS129
A third generation spreadsheet. Powerful and easy to
use.
Word Processor - Stylograph II
US$149 Can$189
Menu driven, fast. Extensive features.
Formats to screen as you work.
Mailmerge - a self-standing program that merges
files and creates form letters.
Spellcheck - a high-speed 40,000 word plus dic-
tioary, works with Stylograph or any other word
processor.
C Compiler US$120" Can$166"
Full featured, faithful to Keran and Richie standard.
The language of the future.
BASIC 09 US$110 Can$152
A full featured, sophisticated semi-compiled BASIC.
See BYTE magazine, April 1984.
Pascal US$175 CanS242
A full featured standard Pascal Compiler.
Fortran (Avail. Aug. '85) US$120" Can$166**
A full featured standard Fortran compiler.
SCRED US$75 CanS104
A full screen editor with full cut-and-paste.
DATABASE - COMING SOON
These prices represent substantial reductions from
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**10 copy bulk prices.
Please add $10 for shipping/handling. All prices subject to change. Ontario residents add 7% PST.
Please order direct, enclosing cheque or money order to:
TPUG, 101 Duncan Mill Rd., Suite G-7, Don Mills, Ontario M3B 1Z3
September 1985 7
A Technical Peek at the Amiga
by Louise Redgers
When Apple released the Macintosh, it
was a great user's machine, but had
nothing to offer the hacker or software
developer. Programming required an ex-
pensive development package, priced
beyond the means of most home users.
This discouraged the hacker from pur-
chasing the machine. While the Amiga
shares the Motorola 68000 chip with the
Macintosh, as well as the use of pull-down
menus and icons, the similarities end
there.
From all appearances, the Amiga is
truly a programmer's delight. It comes
with a Microsoft BASIC, and a C Com-
piler will be available upon release. Pro-
grams written in C will be transportable
from other machines, and will run fast
enough that hand-assembled code will not
be necessary for most applications. Much
of the software now being developed for
the Amiga is written in C. Other lan-
guages that will be available almost at
once are Lisp, Logo, and the famous
Turbo Pascal.
Animation and graphics
Sprite graphics, which were considered
an advanced feature on the C-64, are
much more powerful on the Amiga than
on the older machine. Sprites can be fully
animated with four movable characteris-
tics. Eight sprites with sixteen colours
each can be on the screen at any one time.
Though they are of limited width — as on
the C-64 — the height of Amiga sprites
is limited only by available memory.
Background maintenance is done by the
system. In addition to the eight hardware
sprites, an arbitrary number of software
pseudo-sprites can be easily defined and
manipulated.
With these capabilities (and a wide
variety of built-in routines to take advan-
tage of them), graphics and animation
work beyond anything attainable on the
C-64 should be within reach of most pro-
grammers. Figures can easily be moved
about on the screen, passing in front of
or behind other objects at several levels
of priority, and they can even have
shadows.
The Talking Amiga. . .
Speech is standard on every system. As
with the other features of the Amiga, the
speech is controllable using system calls
from BASIC, with no need for peeks and
pokes. This makes programming a lot
easier, in that one no longer has to worry
about safe locations for storing and
retrieving data. The voice can be con-
trolled by about fifteen lines of BASIC
code. It can have a masculine or feminine
pitch to it, but to me, it still sounds like
a computer.
I can only guess that programming pull-
down menus and icon-driven software
will be relatively easy, given the built-in
support for these features. If so, it will
open up a whole new world of software
development in the educational environ-
ment. Parents will be able to create
colourful displays that will be easy for
even toddlers to use, if they can point at
the activities they wish to perform. When
integrated with the speech capability, this
will also aid in the teaching of disabled
children and adults.
Amiga's future
Until we at TPUG actually get a
machine for review, we can only echo
what we have been told at press confer-
ences, and what we have been able to pick
up from watching others demonstrate the
machine. It looks like this will be a good
hacker's machine, but only time will tell.
Commodore is counting on it rather
heavily to put them back out in the
forefront of the microcomputer market.
The Amiga is capable of this technically,
but only with the right software and hard-
ware support. Advertising will be crucial,
but even more important will be the 'after
sales' support by the dealers. Their abili-
ty to give straightforward answers to
complex technical questions will make or
break this machine.
Commodore seems to be aware of the
pitfalls. They are planning a dealer train-
ing program, as they claim that the aver-
age computer store clerk is going to need
expertise if he is truly to show off the
features of the machine. This may be
true, but creating robot-like figures that
can only answer canned questions will not
aid those like you or me who wish to delve
below the surface.
What does TPUG plan to do about the
Amiga? We intend to offer full support
to this new family of Commodore
machines. Many of us have already
ordered, or have decided to order, the
machine. Some of the experts already
have them. We are going to want public
domain software of all kinds. And you can
expect to see articles covering every
aspect of the Amiga, from software
availability to technical fine points, in
future issues of TPUG Magazine.
8 TPUG Magazine
A Monthly Publication
For
Commodore™ Owners
Commodore support with a twist . . . Personable and even humorous . . . Timely news . . . Helpful tutorials . . . On-going sup-
port for several languages: BASIC (including BASIC 7.0 as featured in the 128 PC), Machine Language, COMAL, and Pascal
. . . Program Listings . . . Honest software reviews.
The Guide features some of the best computer humorists to be found.
• Introduce your "widow" to the Computer Widow's Compendium.
• Tutorials and feature articles by the famous Mindy Skelton.
• Featuring Shelly Roberts' "I'm Sorry ... But I Don't Speak Hexidecimal." Discover why Shelly just
may be the Andy Rooney of the computer world!
We feel we have assembled one of the most talenied staff of writers in the Commodore world. Receive each month the most
friendly and helpful Commodore publication available. Written by Commodore users who are writing to you, not down at you.
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Winnie The Pooh
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— Players explore the Hundred Acre
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books. Pooh's honey pot and
Eeyore's tail, and return them to
their rightful owners. Cheery music
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computer rendition of the beloved
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Omiterm Terminal Program
— Written by OH, oiutM '• own Bob
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The Joy (and Pain) of Spaghetti
by Jim Butterfield
Copyright e 1985 Jim Butterfield. Permis-
sion to reprint is hereby granted, pro-
vided this notice is included in the
reprinted material.
I recently received a letter from Syd
Bolton, who was most enthusiastic about
'free-form' programming. You know the
sort of thing — the first step is to turn
the computer on. The next is to write a
dozen lines or so; after that, decide what
you want to do. Under no circumstances
is any planning to take place before
switching on, and work with pencil and
paper is unthinkable.
I'm overstating the case, of course. The
point is — and several writers have
pointed this out lyrically — it's great fun
to horse around with code and see how
(or if) you can get things to come out. I've
even been quoted myself as saying that
one of the marks of a virtuoso program-
mer is the ability to convince people that
the program you ended up with was really
what you intended to do in the first place,
more or less. To put it poetically, it's a
heck of a hacker who can hook the hawks
on hoke code for hicks.
Fooling around can be a lot of fun,
whether you do it in school, at the beach,
or while programming. If your object is
to have a good time, go ahead, with my
blessing. If your object is to have a good
program, well. . .
It's a lot of fun to eat a good meal: it's
not so much fun to plan and prepare it
beforehand, or to wash the dishes after-
wards. I suspect it's the same thing with
programs. It's more fun to dive in and
chop at the code: it's much less fun to plan
before and document afterwards. When
I look at some programs, I sometimes
wish that the programmer had worn a bib
when writing it. I can see the litter of left-
over and patched-up code in there.
If you're writing a one-shot program
for your own use, go to it. If it slugs away
for two minutes and then reports ?SYN-
TAX ERROR IN LINE 5870, chop in a
repair and run it again. And if the repair
doesn't work, try another chop. If that
doesn't work, sit down and think. Sound
familiar? That's what you get when you
hack at a program, and it can be lots of
fun.
But be aware that free flight coding
does have its problems. Such as: (i) you
drag the program out six weeks later and
can't read it yourself; (ii) you make a
small change and the whole thing col-
lapses for no apparent reason; (iii) you
give away or sell copies, and people phone
you telling you things that don't work
properly; (iv) your program wins a prize
in 'worst code of the year'; (v) somebody
sends you a 'cleaned up' rewrite of your
program that uses one third of the lines;
(vi)you wrote it for ten provinces, and it
turns out that it cannot be converted to
fifty states without a total rewrite.
It's okay to write green slime coding.
But keep in mind the following thoughts.
If you want to publish or sell it, you'll
want to do massive cleaning up. Also,
well-shaped coding gives you a good feel-
ing; you feel proud of not just the pro-
gram, but also the coding it contains.
Moreover, if you get into trouble, you can
scrap the old program and start over.
. . .When I look at
some programs, 1
sometimes wish that
the programmer had
worn a bib when
writing it. . .
When you rewrite it you may have
nothing written down, but you'll have a
plan: the organization of the program as
you perceived it on the previous write.
If you write 'natcheral' code and enjoy
it, and if your programs work, good for
you! It's hard to knock a working pro-
gram. But there's another factor: pride
of workmanship. Sometimes you just feel
good about a program that you have writ-
ten. You may not know why, but you'd
like to show the coding to others because
the parts fit together so neatly. When this
happens, it's usually a question of style.
Often, you've solved a specific problem
in a general way. For example, you might
have calculated the average value of five
numbers, but you've done it in such a way
that a minor change would perform the
same calculation for a hundred values.
You've gone from the specific task to a
general solution, and that makes you a
more powerful programmer.
You might have heard a lot of talk
about 'structured', 'goto-less', or 'top-
down' programming. These are essential-
ly concerned with planning, rather than
programming as such (although it's easy
to be misled by the mechanics). Their
general objective is to encourage you (or
shove you) into creating a program that
flows in an orderly way, rather than hop-
ping around. A program should be
something like a railway line, with main
line, spurs, and sidings clearly identified;
it shouldn't be like a city map with no
clear path from one point to another. I
see programs in which the programmer
seems to have arrived in a maze of
twisting little passages, all the same.
You might think that you write only
one line at a time, but it's not so. If you
write FOR J = 1 TO 10 in a program,
you're engaged in planning ahead. You
plan to repeat the next few statement ten
times, and you've committed yourself to
eventually writing a NEXT J. There's no
such thing as truly barefoot programming
— your mind is always thinking a few
lines ahead, and you're always planning.
The real danger is to write IF X>10
GOTO 575 hoping that when you get to
575 you will have figured out what to do
when X is greater than 10.
But whether or not you admit to plan-
ning, whether or not you do more of it or
less of it, do continue to have fun with
your programming. And if you can break
the rules and still come up with a neat
program that works well, more power to
you. □
Important message to
all BBS users
The NEW telephone number is:
(416) 429-6044
Operating hours:
24 hours per day
7 days per week
The password is . . .
AMIGA
10 TPUG Magazine
COMMODORE PC 10
FLEXIBLE,
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IBM COMPATIBLE.
This is Commodore's remarkab/e new PC10. It's the flexible, affordable
computer that can help businesses grow.
Among a wide range of functions the new PCIO runs the MS DOS
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The PCIO comes standard with 256K memory, monochrome monitor,
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on board serial and parallel interfaces.
It's modular in design. There are 5 available expansion slots which allows
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A computer by any other name wouldn't be as good a value.
Or. more importantly, as good a computer.
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SPREADSHEET is the ideal program for
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It is fast, versatile and powerful enough to
handle ail your spreadsheet needs.
i
And it's easy enough to understand and use right away.
SPREADSHEET combines a full-feature spreadsheet with basic
word-processing and the sorting and searching capabilities of a
database.
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Software Piracy
by Bryan J. Lunt
Like Pagliacci's clown the software in-
dustry alternates between ecstasy and
rage. Although software sales are in the
billions of dollars, the rapid increase in
its losses to piracy cannot be overlooked.
Estimated at 20 per cent of the industry's
gross in 1982, software theft doubled in
1983 and continues to escalate. Bruce
Hampton, business manager of the Cana-
dian Computer Dealers Association, uses
Lotus Corporation's Lotus 1-2-3 package
to illustrate what's happening: "It re-
quires considerable outlay for a retail
store to carry this type of program, and
development costs have been estimated
at close to one million dollars. However,
four months after its release, pirated ver-
sions were being offered at 25 dollars.
For each legitimate sale, we estimate
nine illegal reproductions have been put
into circulation. With competition like
this, it is inevitable that stores will go out
of business and manufacturers will
become reluctant to risk capital on
sophisticated programs." Attorneys for
Lotus claim that piracy has cost the com-
pany several million dollars in sales.
John Loveless, who was vice president
of marketing for Synapse Software
before its demise, has said that Synapse 's
Slam Ball game suffered from
widespread copying. Synapse's C-64 ver-
sion of Zaxxon, a project that required
a large upfront royalty payment, also met
heavy competition from the 'alternative
market'. "We stopped sending out review
copies to improve the shelf life", Loveless
said, "but despite having complete in-
house control of our manufacturing
operation, we found lookalikes being sold
before we could get shipments out of our
warehouse."
Totl Software has reported similar pro-
blems. Their Flex File data base manage-
ment program, written by Michael Riley,
was withdrawn from circulation after if
was discovered that two companies were
selling bootleg versions. Totl and Riley
placed a great deal of faith in consumer
honesty by offering lis table software, but
have now added protection to their pro-
ducts. "The decision took a year to
make", a Totl spokesman says, "but our
dealers reported that once a few (un-
protected) programs were sold in an area,
everyone had copies of them".
President Bernie Anderson of
Magtech, Canada's largest independent
trade duplication house, believes
manufacturers assist piracy by placing
too much emphasis on short term profit.
"Nothing is 100 per cent secure, but
modern duplication equipment can do
numerous things to a customer's program
which make copying difficult. The addi-
tional work adds between 12 and 35 cents
per disk, but many companies select the
low end of this range in an effort to save
money,"
This is not idle rhetoric. Epyx's Jump-
man, a machine language game, sold
about 50 thousand copies, but was cir-
culated much more widely because it is
easy to get into. One sympathises with
the writers' loss of royalties, but not with
Epyx, who saved pennies using 'first line
protection', and lost five million dollars
worth of business by doing so. Although
80 per cent of software sales are made
to new computer owners, who do not
have the expertise to break into pro-
grams, and although less than one per
cent will ultimately become fluent in
machine language, these statistics cannot
excuse pinch-penny attitudes. As Atari's
John Boyle points out, "It takes only one
person to crack software and, with
modern communications, upload it to a
database where hundreds can be cir-
culated in a matter of hours".
If manufacturers are willing to spend
money on protection, the size of the pro-
duct and the market it's written for will
influence what form the protection takes.
Diskette and tape are both economical,
and the protection can be written direct-
ly into the program. Joystick-driven
games are mainly secured by 'killing' the
keyboard, leaving no obvious way to
enter commands. An interesting
mechanical device called a 'dongle' or
'data lock key' provides another alter-
native. This device plugs into the joystick
port, where its presence can be checked
for by the program. The advantage of
dongle protection, from the user's point
of view, is that archive copies of the pro-
gram itself can be freely made.
The original dongles were decipherable
with a logic probe, but duplicating one
wasn't easy. The trend now is towards
more cheaply made dongles that look the
same but are easier to copy. In any case,
one source told me, "it's possible to alter
the program and patch around the secur-
ity. Most manufacturers make only one
check for the dongle's presence, and this
makes the alteration simple".
Whilst there is no justification for
dishonesty, there are many reasons for
backing up commercial software. Your
'licence to use' will obviously last longer
than the medium it arrives on, and one
day your favourite's not going to work.
Most companies recognize this fact, and
will provide additional copies for a
nominal charge. Provided it's kept strict-
ly as a backup, few manufacturers would
object to you making your own. But copy-
ing is often done on a much wider scale.
Some time ago, I purchased a modem
that refused to match up with my
Microteehnic Smart 64 + 2 disk. My com-
plaint brought an offer of free software
equal to my own, at which point the
dealer commenced duplicating a name
brand sample for my approval. A few
weeks later I obtained a list of 400 pro-
grams being sold by a student. Zaxxon
and Kickman were offered at five dollars,
and dongle -free copies of Oracle and
Paperclip were fifteen dollars each.
These pirates are amateurish. The stu-
dent offered photocopies of original
manuals, and the dealer might have
trouble with suppliers if his actions
become known. Professionals choose
methods where the ethics may be ques-
tionable, but seldom the legality. Current
12 TPUG Magazine
copyright laws are not adequate to pro-
tect software, though documentation is
less vulnerable.
International borders are exploited by
the more knowledgeable pirates. Copies
of Word Star are sold openly in Hong
Kong, because copyright laws are not
recognized there. Many of the advertised
IBM and Apple Clone computers really
are 100 per cent compatible, because the
ROM chips have been duplicated in coun-
tries where copyright does not apply. It
is difficult to get convictions when no
laws have been broken.
Corporations law offers advantages to
the dishonest. A claim for damages under
the Copyright Act is a civil matter, and
there would be no point in continuing one
if an incorporated pirate dissolved his
business. When MicroPro sought judge-
ment against Data Force Corporation (to
establish that Word Star was being sold
under a different name), the defendant
closed his business, leaving the plaintiff
with costly legal expenses but no one to
recover them from.
The Commercial Branch of the RCMP
recognizes these weaknesses, and recent-
ly gained a conviction in Vancouver using
the penal code instead. Anyone convicted
in this manner could be given a ten year
jail sentence, and closing one's business
is not an out. However, this is still only
a stopgap measure until more definitive
laws can be enacted.
IBM is one of the few companies cur-
rently requiring dealers to obtain a signed
usage agreement from the consumer at
the point of sale. Many companies enclose
restrictions inside the packaging, but a
customer should know exactly what is
. . . Epyx saved pennies
using 'first line protec-
tion', and lost five
million dollars worth of
business by doing
so. . .
being purchased before parting with
money, and the validity of telling him
later seems questionable. Even IBM's
practice leaves one wondering how they
could enforce contractual obligations if
the purchaser were a minor.
Assemblyman Gray Davis has introduc-
ed an act into the California Legislature
that many Canadian manufacturers
would like implemented here. Under this
proposal, usage limitations would be
clearly outlined on the software package;
opening the pack would constitute accep-
tance of the terms. This 'shrink wrap law'
covers a number of situations that are
now vague, but it does not address the
manufacturer's obligations to the con-
sumer. This may be an area where user
groups could make legitimate interces-
sion on our behalf.
'Lookalikes' are another problem. The
difference between a toad and a frog may
be considerable to a naturalist, but the
salesman who sold me my Road Toad
game assured me that it was similar to
the out of stock Frogger. If there is no
actual crime in the similarity, and one ac-
cepts that both games are original work,
then the question of ethics remains. As
I see it, baseball is baseball, even if you
print hockey on the tickets.
There are three kinds of people: a rare
few who are creative; a large group who
exploit what they produce; and the ma-
jority of us, who provide the financial in-
centive for both of them. Nobody enjoys
working for nothing, and maybe pirates
should pause and consider how little they
would have if the creative stopped
creating. □
TPUG has implemented the popular 6809 operating system
'OS/9' on the SuperPET. Super-OS/9 greatly expands
software availability and the hardware capabilities of this
computer while at the same time preserving access to the
Waterloo languages and programs.
The cost of Super-OS/9 to club members will be $195
(Cdn.), which will include the cost of a hardware modifica-
tion that will not affect the normal operation of the
SuperPET. Two board SuperPETs require a simple hard-
ware modification — we provide instructions. To obtain
your copy, send $195 (Cdn.) to: TPUG (101 Duncan Mill
Rd., Suite G-7, Don Mills ON, M3B 1Z3, Canada).
What does Super-OS/9 offer?
• A true operating system with UNIX features and the
simplicity and command style of Commodore BASIC;
• Multi-tasking and multi-user environment;
• Multi-level directories similar to those available in MS DOS
2.0. ;
• Time and date stamp for all directory entries (files);
• File access privileges may be restricted by the owner of
a file.
Extensive software is available for OS/9, most of which will
run on the SuperPET.
OS/9 IS HERE
The Super-OS/9 package includes an assembler, editor,
command (shell) library monitor, symbolic debugger and
25K RAM Disk.
Available Languages (compilers) include BASIC-09, Pascal,
CIS-COBOL, 'C Language, and others.
Available Applications Programs: Word processors,
business, inventory and accounting applications.
Public Domain: Software, relational database and
spreadsheets, extensive public domain software and
documentation.
TPUG will acquire public domain software and assist users
in the conversion of commercial software to Commodore
format.
Portability and Expandability
• Super-OS/9 programs wili run on all OS/9-based
microcomputers.
• Super-OS/9 will run hard disks and parallel drives.
• There will be source code compatibility to versions of
OS/9 that are planned for the Motorola 68000.
For information call TPUG inc. 416-445-4524
For technical information:
Gerry Gold 416-667-3159 or 416-225-8760
September 1985 13
The KEY Command in Simons' BASIC
by Peter Moskos
Programmers using Simons' BASIC on
the Commodore 64 will seize upon the
KEY command immediately as a great
time saver. However, several of the ways
in which it can be used are not explained
in the manual, and it takes some tinker-
ing at the keyboard to discover its
possibilities.
The KEY command is a programming
aid to be used by the programmer as he
writes the program, rather than by the
program user as the program runs. The
command allows the programmer to
assign up to sixteen standard BASIC or
Simons' BASIC commands to the four
function keys at the right of the
keyboard. For example, to assign LIST
to the F7 key, you simply enter:
KEY 7, "LIST"
and press RETURN, From this point on,
you simply use F7 and RETURN to list the
program in memory. Thus the number (1
to 16) following the KEY command
designates the function key being used,
while the code between the quotation
marks is the BASIC command (or com-
mands) assigned to that key. The code
between the quotation marks can be up
to fifteen characters long and may include
numbers, punctuation marks, signs (such
a '$' or '#') or multiple commands. The
sixteen different function keys are ob-
tained by using the SHIFT key and the
Commodore key, singly and in
combination.
The need for pressing RETURN after
the use of a function key can be
eliminated by adding a carriage return
(ASCII 13):
KEY 7,"LIST"+CHR$C13>
Enter this, and a carriage return follow-
ing LIST is triggered automatically. A
program can be listed instantly, with one
keystroke, simply by pressing F7.
This much is described in the manual.
Now let us see what else the KEY com-
mand can do.
Chaining CHRSs
The automatic carriage return described
above suggests other possibilities in the
use of the KEY command. Just as
CHR${13) can be added to a key assign-
14 TPUG Magazine
ment to eliminate the carriage return, so
can other character strings be added to
more fully define the assignment and
eliminate further keystrokes. This is
especially useful when the code that you
wish to assign is greater than fifteen
characters long, or when it contains a
quotation mark, which would normally be
taken by the computer as a closing of the
assignment, rather than as a part of it.
An example of the latter is the DIR com-
mand of Simons' BASIC. To list the disk
directory you type DIR"S < RETURN >.
But an attempt to assign this to a func-
tion key in the following manner:
KEY 3,"DIR"*"+CHR$(13)
fails, because the second quote is taken
as terminating the string. However, by
chaining CHR$(34) and CHR$(36) the
desired result can be achieved:
KEY 3,"DIR"+CHR$:34)+
CHR$C36)+CHR*<13>
Storing Key Assignments
But how practical is all of this? Defining
the function keys to any detailed extent
may take several minutes. Is it worth the
trouble of doing this, if the assignments
have to be typed in again at the beginn-
ing of each programming session?
Fortunately, KEY assignments can be
stored. Since the KEY command can be
used in numbered program lines as well
as in direct mode, a short key assignment
program such as the following can be
written. Also, like any other BASIC pro-
gram, it can be saved on disk or tape.
This program gives four functions to each
of the four function keys. Key one is
assigned RUN, NEW, and printer access;
key two gets disk operations; key three
handles the Simons' BASIC programm-
ing aids; and key four is for listing pro-
grams. Using NEW (or loading another
program into memory) erases the pro-
gram listing but leaves the key
assignments intact. The function keys as
now defined can be used to write and edit
the new program.
Notice that some assignments contain
automatic carriage returns, while others
do not. For example, the carriage return
after NEW has been omitted, to allow for
the sober second thought of pressing
RETURN before erasing a program. (In
Simons' BASIC this would never be a
disaster in any case, since the program
can be retrieved using the OLD com-
mand.) Similarly, the two versions of
LIST (with and without the carriage
return) provide for maximum flexibility
with this frequently-used command. F7
(LIST < RETURN >) allows for a one-
keystroke listing of the whole program.
F8 (LIST without the carriage return) is
for use when listing a single line or range
of lines for editing: for example, LIST
230-270, where the line numbers must be
entered before hitting RETURN.
Clearly, the assignments each program-
mer makes will depend on his interests,
tastes and needs. Indeed, a number of dif-
ferent key assignment programs can be
written for use while working on dif-
ferent types of programs or jobs:
graphics, sound, sprites, disk file manage-
ment and so on.
Whatever choices you make, the KEY
command is bound to be one of the
features of Simons' BASIC that you put
to almost constant use. □
I KEY l,"RUN n +CHR$(13>
3 KEY 2, "NEW"
3 KEY 9,"0PEN4,4!CMD4:"
4 KEY 10,"CLOSE4 ,, +CHR*<13>
5 KEY 3,"DIR"+CHR*<34>+CHR*<3G)+CHR*<13>
6 KEY 4,"L0AD"+CBRSK34>
7 KEY 11, "SAVE " +CHR$C34) +CHR$<48)+CHR$C5S)
8 KEY 12, H ,8"+CHR$C13)
9 KEY 5,"DISPLAY"+CHR$<13>
10 KEY 6, n BL)MP"+eHR*«:i3>
II KEY 13,"AUT0 100,10"
12 KEY 14, "RENUMBER 100,10"
13 KEY 7, B LIST"+CHR$a3>
14 KEY 8, "LIST"
15 KEY 15, "PAGE 23"+CHR$< 13)
16 KEY 16,"PA6E 0"+CHR$<13>
A Writer's Database
By Charles Lewis
As a freelance writer, I originally pur-
chased my CBM 8032 to use as a word
processor. Soon, however, I began to
want even more. Why was I keeping my
records on paper — why not use my com-
puter to do it for me? But as I scanned
the ads, I found a new problem; I simply
had too much money tied up already to
allow me to buy any more software.
So I learned how to program. After a
while, I prepared a primitive database
that allowed me to set up a series of files
with twenty items in each. It wasn't
perfect — in fact, paper records were
really easier to use — but at least I was
using my expensive computer. Still I
wasn't satisfied. The reviews of the pro-
fessional database programs that I
couldn't afford showed me how much
more I could be doing.
Suddenly I realized that 1 did have a
database program, one that was even
more powerful than some of the ones
advertised; what is more, I'd had it all
along. My word processor (WordPro 4)
could also serve as a database! Unlike my
own program (and many of the commer-
cial programs), the length and number of
my records would be unlimited — each
could be as long or as short as I needed.
Moreover, I could use my 'search' func-
tion to find any information I wanted,
regardless of where it was located.
My initial project was a record of ar-
ticles I had written. First I prepared a
format. I decided to centre the title of
each article, drop down two lines, and set
up five columns. The first column would
be the name of the magazine, the next
two would be the date on which I mailed
the query (asking if the magazine would
be interested in the subject) and the
response, and the last two would be the
date on which I mailed the article and
that response. Below this I could add any
comments, such as the disk on which the
article was saved, the amount I received
when sold, magazines that were out of
business, and so forth.
After setting up the format, I saved a
format file with the headings. Now,
whenever I prepare a new article, I call
up the main file and move the cursor
below the last line used. Then I recall the
format file and insert the information in
the blanks I provided. When I hear from
a magazine or send an article out to a new
market, I just move the cursor to the
record for that article, type in the need-
ed information, and resave the file.
Since I need permanent records for tax
time, I also prepared a file called Articles
Sold. When I receive a cheque, I call up
the original file, indicate the amount
received, and add it to my permanent file.
Finally, I delete that record from the
original. I take care of these housekeep-
ing chores each time I begin a writing ses-
sion, so it's actually easier than it would
be with many database programs, and —
since I only have to use one program —
it's quicker.
I then set up an address file. I know
there are tons of simple database pro-
grams (I've got a couple from TPUG
myself), but a word processing file allows
me to search for a specific magazine (even
if I can remember only part of the title),
a specific editor, or even a specific city
(the latter comes in handy when I have
an article that a local magazine might find
useful). And to make matters even
simpler, I can merge the address with a
letter much quicker than I could type it.
I have also begun using my word pro-
cessor for indexing.' Like most writers
(and computer enthusiasts), I have tons
of magazine articles that I might want to
find 'one day'. Before, I had to tear out
the pages and find the correct file folder.
If the article fit in more than one
category, I had to make a cross-reference
note. Now I simply prepare a form like
the following:
Author:
Title:
Magazine:
Date:
Page:
Code:
By saving the format under one name and
the magazine files themselves under dif-
ferent names, it's easy to merge the two
and add the latest articles. With Word-
Pro 4 I can even set up blocks that will
allow me to move directly to the blanks.
Not only do I save myself the cost of
buying a commercial program, but I have
more versatility than many of these
would give me. I can search for the code,
of course; but I can also look for a title
(or even part of a title, if I can't
remember the full name). I can see which
articles I found for a specific date, or I
can find an article when I know only its
author. Thus I have the ability to find in-
formation and organize it for different
purposes — just as I would with a
database program.
I use the same techniques to create in-
dex cards. In fact, I can do everything
with the material I have on my database
than I can with the information I
download from the Knowledge Index
online database. I've even used a conver-
sion program to change the sequential
files I obtain from Knowledge Index and
CompuServe into WordPro files; that
saves the time I would normally spend
retyping the material.
There are restrictions, of course. Most
programs would prepare a list of just the
items I want; my search function moves
me through the document, but I can't
print such a list. This only means I have
to be more creative. I just find the items
I want, transfer them to the beginning of
the file, and erase the remainder of the
file (though I don't change what I have
on disk). I can then print out the new
document and have exactly what I need.
Another drawback: I cannot prepare an
alphabetical listing. I can, however, con-
vert WordPro files to sequential files and
use one of the sorting routines that are
available in the public domain. I can then
print out the results directly, or else con-
vert back to WordPro for more precise
formatting. Word processors that create
sequential files wouldn't need the conver-
sion steps, of course, and some even allow
alphabetizing within the program.
Certainly the more expensive database
programs are more powerful, and for
many purposes they would be more effi-
cient. For my uses, though, the ability to
search for anything is a real advantage
— one that many such programs just
don't have — and I can format a printed
result much more effectively. I also have
the satisfaction of making a program do
more than its original writer intended.
If you are considering a commercial
program, therefore, you need to examine
your needs carefully. Could a word pro-
cessing program — and you can find
several in the TPUG library — do what
you need? If not, then the cost of The
Manager and similar programs is
justified. But you sure can't beat the price
of my program — it's free! □
September 1985 15
A Beginner's BBS Guide: Part Four
by Ian A. Wright
In the first three articles of this series, Ian
Wright discussed some of the uses of
bulletin boards, how to logon and read
messages and bulletins, and how to up and
download. Now he discusses the selection
of hardware and software suitable for
BBSing by answering some of the ques-
tions that come up at TPUG's com-
munications group meetings.
What do I need to start — and how much
will it cost?
To start telecommunicating you must
a telephone. A bewildering variety of ac-
cessories vies for your money. Each has
different features and prices vary accor-
dingly. The chart given with this article
provides selected information about some
of the most popular Commodore-
compatible modems and terminal
programs.
Do I need an autodial! autoanswer
modem?
This depends on the purposes to which
your modem will be put. Are you going
to be trying to access the local public
BBSs, or will most of your telecom-
municating be on CompuServe or Dow
Jones? If you answered 'yes' to the first
question, but 'no' to the second, you will
be better served by a more expensive
autodialling modem and supporting soft-
ware, because it might take an hour of
redialling to get through to a busy metro
board — and they're getting busier all the
time.
Do I need a special phone line?
No. The BBSs that we have talked about
can operate well on a standard telephone
tine — as long as it is relatively noise-free.
You can pay for a 'data-quality condition-
ed' telephone line (using a Datajack at
$4.05/month extra), but first you must
have a' business telepone line! The costs
are enormous. 'Voice-quality' lines need
only be clear enough for speech, but you
can do as I did and install a second phone
line if you have trouble.
Should I buy a cheaper acoustic modem?
Only if you can't afford a direct-connect
one. Playing your stereo in the same
room where an acoustic modem is
operating can produce really strange ef-
fects, like screen garbage and invalid
commands. Few of today's telephones are
designed for acoustic coupling, which
means a lot of line-noise because of a poor
fit. The $28 modem does work, but you
must buy parts and hook it up yourself
— see the December ' 84 issue of this
magazine.
What 's this 'parity ' and 'stop-bits ' stuff?
Until you become comfortable with
BBSing, you can forget this stuff and let
your terminal program do the work for
you. When you try to communicate
directly with a friend's computer, these
considerations become more important.
Parity checks for missing data, for in-
stance, and you may in some situations
have to set it correctly to ensure suc-
cessful communications.
C-64 MODEMS
MODEL
MANUFACTURER
PRICE
A/A
A/O
C
COMMENTS
Pocke? Modem
Bot Engineering
$150
Y
D
Y
Canadian made compact
28-dollar
Active Surpi us
$ 40 : :
N
A
N
incomplete kit
1600
Commodore
$ 80
N
D
N
comes with phone
*
1650
"
$150
Y
D
Y
de-facto standard
1660
$100
Y
D
N
includes speaker
MiniModem
EMP
$ 75
N
D
N
simple compact
Smartmodem
Hayes
$400
Y
D
N
needs interface
Hesmodem 1
H.E.S.
$125
N
D
N
C-64A/1C-20
Hesmodem 2
H.E.S.
S175
Y
O
N
Mighty Mo
USI
$100
Y
O
N
3 year warranty
64/20
West ridge
S125
Y
D
Y
2 year warranty
Total Communications
$150
Y
D
Y
bundled software
A/A
= Autodial/ Autoanswer A/D
= Acoustic/Direct connect
Y = Yes
C
= Compatible with
a 1650 autodial modem
discontinued/discounted Prices are in Canadian doilars
C-64 TERMINAL PROGRAMS
Features supported
Name of program
Approx. Price
Buff
A/A
Protocols
Meta DF
Ed
Autodial/All
Free
N
Y
PVJ
N H
N
Firsidial3
Free
42k
Y
P2/T
16 Y
Y
Hometerm
$50-75
11k
N
Xmod/T
Y N
N
McTerm 64
$75-100
10k
Y
Xmod/T
Y Y
Pro-Term
$40-50
Y
Y
P1/Xon/.img/T
Y Y
Y
Smart 64
$50-75
N
Y
Pl/Xon/T
4 Y
N
TeieTalk
$40-45
42k
Y
P1/Xon/Xmod/T
8 Y
N
Termi nail 650
Free
N;
Y
P1/P2/T
N N
N
Vidtex
$50-75
30k
N
CompB/T
Y : Y
N
VSP Term
$50-75
7k
Y
P1/Xon/Xmod/.img/T
20 Y
Y
xCOM 64
$50-75
20k
P1 /Xmod/T
Y
A/A
= Autodial/Autoanswer Buff ■
= Capture buffer
Meta = Programmable
<eys OF = Defaults file
Ed = File editor
P1/P2 -
Punter old/new
T = text files
Xmod = X-modem Xon
= X/on X/off
Comp 8 = CompuServe 8 img = binary file
16 TPUG Magazine
What is a 'defaults' file?
Most terminal programs are menu-driven
— you make various selections from a list
of options that the programmer has built
into his terminal. Most good terminal pro-
grams allow you to set literally hundreds
of variables, and if you had to do this each
time you might go mad! A defaults file
keeps a record of all your selections —
your telephone numbers, user codes and
so on — to be loaded in from disk. You
can give your user code with one key-
press, or even have a series of commands
for automatic logon.
Which protocol should I get?
If you want to access a commercial
database like CompuServe or Datapac,
you should investigate their terminal pro-
grams or other commercial programs,
because some databases need their own
programs. Vidtex is one example. For
up/downloading from TPUG or other
Punter boards you will need either the
new or old Punter protocol, depending on
which board you are using. Generally, the
new protocol is twice as fast, but only
works on C-64 BBSs like TPUG's.
Cam / talk to my friend's computer?
To most people, the idea of typing a
message from computer to computer
rather than speaking into the phone
seems a bit weird — and it is! Direct
transmission of data files or programs,
however, makes a lot of sense. Two public
domain programs available in the TPUG
library are 64 to 64 and Micro term 64,
both of which transmit files between
machines using complicated error-
checking routines to make sure that what
was received matches what was sent.
What are the key features of a terminal
program?
Again, this depends on your specific re-
quirements, but here are a few major
considerations:
• Is it compatible with your modem? Try
them out together in the store, or use
various public domain programs until you
know what to ask about.
• Does it have a buffer/printer function?
When you need this feature, it's nice to
have it immediately available.
• Does it have a defaults file? Until you
have answered the same questions about
parity and stop bits for the umpteenth
time, this feature may seem like a frill.
It's not.
• Will it up/download from the systems
you will be on? There are many different
protocols, so you may need more than one
terminal program.
• Does it have meta-keys? Remembering
codes and answering prompts with the
correct responses is far easier with pro-
grammable keys.
• Does it offer a simple method of selec-
ting screen colours, altering passwords,
and so on? Many terminal programs that
come with a particular modem have only
a few options, and after a short time they
become restrictive. This is the distinction
between 'smart' and 'dumb' terminal
programs.
Specific questions about the operation
of a modem, terminal program or any-
thing else about BBSs should be entered
as messages to ALL on local systems.
The replies will help many others who
want to know, but are frightened to ask.
Some local boards have instituted special
bulletin sections to provide answers to
frequently asked questions, and some
BBSs have special message sections for
this purpose. BBSers are very helpful to
novices.
Over the last three years I have been
amazed at the growth of telecommunica-
tions among home users, and I have been
pleased to make a number of new friends
through this medium. I invite other
TPUG members to reach out over the
telephone lines — it opens up a whole new
world. □
Toronto PET Users Group Inc.
WE HAVE MOVED
r
Our new address . .
101 Duncan Mill Road, Suite Q7
Don Mills, Ontario M3B 1Z3
Telephone: (416) 445-4524
September 1985 17
Making Money with a VIC 20
by Michael D. Curran
So you have a Commodore 64 now and
your old VIC 20 is sitting on a shelf
collecting dust. What should you do with
it? Well — sell it (if you can), let the kids
play with it, use it to make slates for your
VCR, or . . . put it to work. That's right,
put it to work! The VIC 20 has some
unique features that could help you make
some extra spending money. The most
obvious feature is the screen display,
which is the subject of this article.
To begin with, computers are an expen-
sive hobby — rewarding, but expensive.
Just ask my wife! I had a substantial in-
vestment in hardware for my VIC 20, as
you can see from this list below:
VIC 20 and datasette: $300
32K Memory Expansion: $154
4-Slot Expansion Board: $79
40/80 Column Board: $100
This list does not include the price of my
printer, monitor and disk drive, all of
which I still use with my 64. Even so, it
comes to a total of 633 dollars. But my
VIC 20 has now earned all that back and
paid for itself. How? Well I will tell you.
I am a technical director (switcher) for
a television station in Montreal. I won't
take your time by explaining exactly what
my job entails. On one occasion, though,
I was working on a show that used a
device called a 'teleprompter' for the on-
camera talent. For the uninitiated, a
teleprompter is a device that has a video
monitor mounted under the camera lens.
Reflective glass over the lens allows the
on-camera talent to read a script while
looking directly into the camera. At the
other end of the teleprompter is a master
unit that takes the script and, with a
pinch roller, pulls the script under a black
and white video camera, mounted with
the lens pointing down to the script. An
operator sits behind the master unit and
varies the speed that the script travels
under the lens to match the reading speed
of the on-camera talent. The operator can
also stop and start the script at any time.
The script itself must be typed on
letter-sized paper, using the right hand
25 columns. The sheets of paper are taped
together to be fed through the master
unit. As you can imagine, the script for
a half -hour show can be quite a long roll
of paper. Of course, with that many
pieces of paper taped together, some-
times the master unit will jam as the
script passes through, which can cause
quite a mess.
We have two pairs of monitors and
screens, but only one master unit. This
causes scheduling problems, as only one
show can use the teleprompter at a time.
On this occasion, the show I was work-
ing on was waiting for its turn at the
teleprompter, and the show that was us-
ing it was running late. This made the
director I was working with 'slightly an-
noyed'. He couldn't run late, because the
News was coming out of our control
room, and the News is live and never
starts late.
After asking why we didn't have a sec-
ond unit, I was told rather crisply that a
second unit was ordered but wouldn't
arrive until after Christmas. As this was
just the end of October, I could under-
stand his frustration. Then I had an idea.
I told him I could come up with a solu-
tion, just to tide him over until the new
unit arrived. I thought he was going to
kiss me! I quickly stepped back.
So I began. First, I knew that the video
of the VIC 20 was baseband video, which
is a standard that all broadcast monitors
use. This meant I could hook up my VIC
to the teleprompter monitor with no prob-
lems. I also knew that the 22 column
display was large enough to be seen at
quite a distance, whieh meant I wouldn't
need to come up with a larger character
set, which was the reason I came up with
the idea in the first place. Next, I made
the connectors I would need to do this
hook-up. Then, I sat down and wrote the
program. This took me about twelve
hours.
When it was done, it could do every-
thing I said it would do. You could vary
the reading speed, stop and start the
display, edit lines, input script and save
that script on tape. The only problem was
the scrolling. While the C-64 has a chip
to control smooth scrolling, the VIC 20
does not. This meant the scrolling on the
screen was quite jumpy. I solved this by
leaving more room on the screen between
lines. Next I gave the director a
demonstration of how it worked. His first
comment was, "It's so clear!".
You see, the very nature of the tele-
prompter (a lens shooting typed text on
white paper) conspires to produce a
rather murky video image. Of course, the
computer's output is very sharp and
clear. Needless to say, he loved it and
agreed to my price right away. Next, I
had to write a user manual and make sure
the program itself was 'idiot proof — not
an easy task. Those of us computer en-
thusiasts who have been at this for a
while tend to take a great deal for
granted. In the user manual, everything
has to be explained. What is a cursor?
When do you press RETURN? Obvious
things like this all have to be explained.
Next, the program has to be written so
that obvious mistakes can't be made or,
if they are, the user ends up someplace
safe where he can start over again with
no damage to his data. A big job! This
took time, and many tests.
Of course, the job finally was done, or
I wouldn't be writing this article. The
VIC 20 and my program have been per-
forming flawlessly from the start. By the
way, I am writing this article in
February, and my VIC 20 is still being
leased almost every week. The master
unit is supposed to be in any day now,
since December.
This is just one example of a profitable
use for a VIC 20. At the television sta-
tion where I work we also do the daily
LOTO draws. Guess what they use to con-
trol their display board? That's right —
a VIC 20! Of course the VIC has nothing
to do with the draw. It controls the studio
display board of two rows — three digits
in the top row, four digits in the second.
The digits are about 12 inches by 18
inches in size. All of the board is inter-
faced through the user port of the com-
puter. Just imagine — a government
office paid a professional computer com-
pany to develop the hardware and soft-.
ware to use this VIC 20. I wish I had
thought of it.
There are lots of other uses for the VIC
20. Its unique 22-column screen display
makes it ideal for advertising, informa-
tion display ... all kinds of uses where
people have to watch a screen from a
distance. Combine a little programming,
some technical knowledge and some im-
agination, and you could probably come
up with something.
Now I just have to think of a way to get
my C-64 to pay for itself! □
18 TPUG Magazine
Programmable Characters
by Steven Darnold
The Commodore 64 has a wide variety of
graphics modes. You can use PET graph-
ics, sprites, multicolour sprites, a bit map,
a multi-colour bit map, programmable
characters, multicolour programmable
characters, or extended background col-
ours. You can also use combinations of
these modes. This rich selection of modes
permits the 64 to produce extremely
sophisticated graphics. However, there is
a lot to learn before you can make full use
of the 64 's capabilities. Programmable
character definition is a good place to
start.
When I am writing a program, I often
find that I need a character that does not
appear on the keyboard. For example, I
was once working on an educational pro-
gram to teach angles and I needed a
degree sign. However, since I was using
a PET, I had no way of producing one.
The Commodore 64, on the other hand,
is quite capable of producing a degree
sign, or any other character that can be
defined in an 8 by 8 block of dots.
The key to programmable characters
on the Commodore 64 lies in the fact that
any of its 256 characters can be redesign-
ed. This means that you can change the
spade sign (for example) into a degree
sign. Then every time you hit SHIFT-A,
you get a degree sign on the screen.
PRINTing a SHIFT-A, or POKEing the
number 65 to a screen location, will also
produce the degree sign. Before you can
redesign characters, though, you have to
putyour64intotherightframeofmind.
First, reset your 64 and remove any
cartridges. Then type:
PRINT CHR*(14£); CHR$<8>
This locks the computer into the upper-
case/graphics character set. The lower-
case/upper-case character set can also be
redesigned, but it makes this discussion
easier if we avoid switching character
sets. Push the shift key and the Com-
modore key simultaneously, and you'll see
that no switching occurs. Next, type:
PDKE792 ,116: P0KE793 , 164
This alters the warm start routine to keep
it from destroying the new characters we
are going to build. Press RUN-
STOP/RESTORE a few times. You
should get a READY without the screen
being cleared. Now, type:
POKE 56,1 £7: CLR
This lowers the top of memory to give us
some RAM to use. Enter PRINT FRE(O)
— the result should be 30461. If it isn't,
then you probably forgot to enter CLR.
The next bit is the most difficult, so be
careful. At present the character set is
stored in ROM. In order to redesign the
characters, we have to shift them to
RAM. There are five steps: disable the
interrupt, connect the ROM, transfer the
characters, disconnect the ROM, and re-
enable the interrupt. This must be done
as one operation, since the keyboard will
not respond between the disabling and
the re-enabling of the interrupt. Enter
the following line to set up a couple of key
variables:
A=40960; B=53248
Now, enter all of the following before
pressing RETURN:
POKE56334,0:POKE1 ,51 J
FOR I =0TOEB47 : P0KEA+ I ,
PEEK (B + I): NEXT: POKE 1,
55:P0KE56334,1
This will take about fifteen seconds to
execute.
You now have a copy of the character
set in RAM, but the computer is still us-
ing the set in ROM. The final step is to
tell the computer to use the new
character set:
POKE 56576,149: POKE
5327£,8: POKE 648,188
Since the screen must be in the same
block of memory as the character set, it
shifts at the same time. The screen now
starts at 32768 (just like the PET) and the
character set starts at 40960.
Clear the screen and type ABC. The
characters should look normal (if not, you
have a problem). Now enter POKE
40971,0. Look at the A in ABC, look at
the A in READY. The zero you put in
40971 wiped out the fourth line of the A.
Try putting zeroes in 40972 and 40973.
What happens? See if you can make all
of the A disappear. Now enter POKE
40976,0. Can you make all of the B disap-
pear? Can you make the C disappear, too?
Each character is made up of eight
lines, and each line is stored in a separate
memory location. If the contents of a
memory location is zero, then the cor-
responding line is blank. If the contents
is 255, then the line is solid (try putting
255 into 40968). Different numbers
between and 255 give different types
of lines. This is based on the binary rep-
resentation of the number. A value of 255
gives a solid line because in binary it is
11111111. Similarly, a value of is
represented as 00000000. Each binary
digit corresponds to a dot on the line. If
the digit is 1, the dot is lit; if the digit is
0, the dot is off. Thus, if you want the left
half of a line to be lit, the number to poke
is 240 (11110000). Experiment with dif-
ferent numbers. See pages 77-78 in the
Commodore 6& User's Guide for details.
The character images are arranged in
order, with each character taking 8 bytes.
If you want to know where a particular
character starts, use this formula: screen
display code times 8 plus 40960. The
screen display codes are listed on pages
132-134 of the User's Guide. Codes for
the reverse field letters run from 128 to
255. Thus, although we have mangled A,
B, C (codes 1, 2, 3), we have not touched
their reverse field representations (codes
129, 130, 131). Check this by pressing
CTRL/RVS ON and typing ABC.
Now we are ready to turn the spade
sign into a degree sign. First look up the
code for spade (65), multiply it by 8 (520)
and add 40960 (41480). This gives us the
first line of the spade. Poke 120
(01111000) into 41480 and 41483. Poke
204 (11001100) into 41481 and 41482.
Poke into the bottom three lines (41484
to 41486). Now press SHIFT-A for a love-
ly degree sign.
That's all there is to it. Now you can
design your own characters. You'll have
to spend a bit of time with an 8 by 8 grid
working out the numbers, but once you
get used to it, it isn't too difficult. □
September 1985 19
System Clock Frequencies
by James C. Halsey
Copyright ® 198U James C. Halsey
Have you tried using a modem software
package that supposedly supports upload
and download, but you cannot seem to
make it work correctly, even with a
receiving computer that does support
these features? Or perhaps an RS-232
device connected to the RS-232 port, that
strays from normal operations, on the
Commodore 64? If so, you may want to
run the short program in the box on this
page. It is a very simple benchmark-type
program, designed to give your computer
a chance to continuously run for about
two minutes. The number printed when
the program finishes is the number of jif-
fies (sixtieths of a second) that elapsed
during the run time. The correct jiffy
counts are listed in the table with this ar-
ticle for each Commodore computer on
which I have run the program. Before
running the program, clear the screen
(direct mode), then type RUN and tap the
RETURN key. The word RUN in the top
left corner should be all you see on the
screen until the program finishes. Run
the program at least three times to check
the reproducibility of the result.
If you are a Commodore 64 owner you
will also have to determine which ROM
you have in your machine. To do this,
start with your machine newly turned on.
Clear the screen, move the cursor down
two rows, then type POKE 1024,65 (and
press RETURN). The character in the top
left corner of the screen should be a
white, graphics spade character for type
1 ROMs, a blank for type 2 ROMs (if you
home the cursor you'll see the spade
blinking), and a spade in the cursor col-
our for type 3 ROMs (and SX-64s).
I began investigating the question of
clock frequencies when our local sysop
told me that people with Commodore 64's
and VIC 20's were having problems us-
ing the upload and download features
available from the BBS software. After
an investigation, it became apparent the
system clocks in these two computers are
adjustable. This design feature allows you
to compensate for differences from
machine to machine, due to parts
tolerances, which affect the processor
clock speed.
Much modem software is written using
the system clock (hardware interrupt) as
a timer for setting the software UART
(universal asynchronous receiver
transmitter) necessary for transmitting
to a modem, whether it be an IEEE-488,
RS-232 or user port RS-232 connected.
The earlier PET computers used a 1 MHZ
(megahertz) system clock. It seems the
'standard' then for setting up the baud
rate for modem transfers used a
reference of the 1 MHZ system clock.
This meant the processor clock speed
100
rem benchmarK
110
-t=ti
120
•for i-& to S000
130
a = l
140
b=s in <a)
150
c=cos <b )
160
next i
170
print ti-t
gave each machine cycle one microsecond
duration.
6502 and 6510 processor instructions
are from 2 to 7 machine cycles in dura-
tion. If you write machine code to use as
a timer, you can rely on a very accurate
time base for a subroutine (if the pro-
cessor clock frequency is accurate), from
the fact that machine instructions take a
set number of machine cycles to execute.
Most terminal and BBS programs have
used this concept, without considering
that a system clock may have been ad-
justed incorrectly, or may have varied
from original settings. Some programs
making use of the built-in RS-232 port in
the VIC 20 and Commodore 64 may be
experiencing the same difficulty. These
Model
Jiffy count
Clock Frequency (MHZ)
Commodore 64 (01 rom)
7166 + 1 jiffy
1 .022728
Commodore 64 (02 rom)
7005 ± 1 jiffy
1.022728
Commodore 64 (03
rom)
7005 ± 1 jiffy
1 .022728
SX-64 (04 rom)
7005 ± 1 jiffy
1 .022728
VIC 20
6558 ± 1 jiffy
1.022728
CBM 8032
7294 ± 1 jiffy
1.000152
2001/Execom
7299 ± 1 jiffy
1.000063
20 TPUG Magazine
computers use a clock frequency of
1.022728 MHZ derived from a 14.31818
MHZ master clock.
Even with an improperly adjusted clock
frequency, you may at times be able to
use modem-oriented programs with no
difficulty. This depends on the tolerance
levels for the modem parts, the telephone
lines, and the receiving computer and its
modem, as well as the software. Should
you be experiencing difficulty with ter-
minal programs, you can check your
system clock by running the test program
exactly as it's printed here (additional
spaces or fewer spaces will make your
program execute with different times
than those specified). Also, be certain to
load and start the program with a newly
turned on machine, as some programs
and utilities will affect the timing. If the
jiffy count of your computer is not close
to that listed (the closer it is, the more
reliable your use of terminal programs
and peripherals), you may want to have
a qualified service centre set your system
clock frequency with an accurate frequen-
cy counter.
The results listed in the table for Com-
modore 64 and VIC 20 were obtained us-
ing machines whose clocks had been ad-
justed to the exact frequency of 14.31818
MHZ using the NTSC jumpers as listed
in the respective reference guides. The
PET series master clocks are not ad-
justable, and thus would require compo-
nent changes to adjust the frequency.
Transmitting at 300 baud, we're re-
quired to send one bit every 3333 usee,
if we're using 1 start bit, 7 data bits, and
2 stop bits, with no parity, for a total of
ten bits per character. This translates to
sending one complete character every
33,330 usee, or 33,330 milliseconds to
send 1000 characters — one full, 40 col-
umn screen, or approximately 4 blocks of
code. Now, if we have a processor clock
frequency of 1.022728 MHZ with an er-
ror rate of .02 per cent, our clock will be
off by 204 HZ. The error factor of .02 per
cent accounts for a 6666 usee difference.
This is 20 per cent of one character time
(two single-bit times), which means that
our data transmitted or received is one
bit off after 500 characters, and one half
bit after only 250 characters. So you can
see where the data transfers are very
likely to be faulty, without taking into ac-
count tolerances elsewhere in the
transmission process. □
PET/CBM MULTI USER DISK SYSTEM
• ALLOWS UP TO SIXTEEN USERS TO SHARE DISK DRIVES
AND/OR PRINTERS
• WORKS WITH ALL PET/CBM EQUIPMENT
• 100% HARDWARE INTERFACED
• NO ALTERATIONSTOSOFTWAREORSPECIALSOFTWARE RE-
QUIRED
• SOFTWARE TRANSPARENT - WORKS WITH ALL PET/CBM
SOFTWARE
• LANGUAGE TRANSPARENT - WORKS IN ANY LANGUAGE
■ NO SPECIAL COMMANDS USED
• PROTECTS AGAINST SYSTEM LOCKUP
COMMODORE 64 MULTI USER DISK SYSTEM
• ALLOWS UP TO EIGHT USERS TO SHARE DISK DRIVES
ANO/OR PRINTERS
• WORKS WITH ALL 64/VIC EQUIPMENT
• BUILT IN IEEE AND 64/VIC SERIAL PORTS
(WORKS WITH ALL IEEE DEVICES}
• 100"- a HARDWARE INTERFACED
■ NO ALTERATIONS TO SOFTWARE OR SPECIAL
SOFTWARE REQUIRED — SOFTWARE TRANSPARENT
• NO SPECIAL COMMANDS USED
• BUILT IN 16K PRINT BUFFER
• DISK DRIVE PRIORITY
GREATER PRODUCTIVITY & LOWER COST
FOR BUSINESS AND EDUCATIONAL USE
4032
8032
40 TO 80 COLUMN CONVERSION
• EXTERNALLY SWITCHABLE FROM 40 TO 80 COLUMNS
• EXTERNALLY SWITCHABLE FROM 80 TO 40 COLUMNS
• CONVERSIONS FOR BOTH 4032s AND 8032s
• 100% SOFTWARE COMPATIBILITY IN EITHER MODE
• HARDWARE (NOT SOFTWARE) MODIFICATION
• ALL KEYS FROM 8032 EMULATED ON 4032
• SPECIAL FUNCTION KEYS
MICROSHARE 64K PRINT BUFFER
• LOW COST
• REDUCES LONG WAITS — SAVES TIME
• ALLOWS YOU TO PRINT AND PROCESS SIMULTANEOUSLY
• IEEE INPUT — IEEE OR CENTRONICS PARALLEL OUTPUT
• WORKS WITH ALL PET/CBM SOFTWARE
• NO INSTALLATION REQUIRED
• ELIMINATES THE FRUSTRATION OF WATING FOR YOUR
PRINTER
COMMODORE 51 PET AND CBM ARE ALL TRADEMARKS OF COMMODORE BUSINESS MACHINES INC
DEALER ENQUIRIES
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(4T6) 787-0617
Micro Processes.
Micro-Memo
Ron Byers
The program below, used in conjunction with the 1650
Automodem, can easily turn your VIC 20 or Commodore 64 into
a host computer for a very simple bulletin board.
Micro-memo will run as is on either computer, since it takes a
'peek' to see where it is before it does anything it would be sorry
for, and adjusts its memory locations accordingly.
On the unexpanded VIC, the memo sent to the caller will be
very short, but it may serve your purposes as it does mine. I have
been operating a BBS three days a week for several months. In
a small town in Nova Scotia with another similar system also on
line three or four days a week, this serves the need quite ade-
quately. However, I wanted my callers not to feel completely re-
jected when they call during off hours, so my VIC 20 was pressed
into service to handle the chore of answering the phone and
greeting callers with a little message regarding the bulletin
board schedule. It works great, is cheap, easy to use, and virtual-
ly crash proof (as long as the power stays on), and can be left on
for long periods of time if the regular bulletin board or the sysop
needs a holiday.
It occurs to me that this program, particularly when used on an
expanded VIC 20 or on a Commodore 64, could have a host of
other uses. For example, it could be put on the phone line of a
computer store after hours to present information on the latest
sales or bargains, and for announcements of general interest,
such as club notices. It could similarly be used on school phones
at night by the computer club, so that students could post notices
and experiment as junior sysops.
Everything you wish to say in your memo is entered as DATA
statements. Make them less than 39 characters long for best
readability (21 characters on the VIC), and be sure that the last
statement is DATA " XX" . Dimension the MS$ array (line 30) for
more than 50 if you wish to have longer messages — provided
you have enough memory in your computer. Since the program
is short, many copies, each with different messages, could be sav-
ed under different filenames on one tape or disk.
If you find that you are not already contributing until it hurts
to Ma Bell or Maritime Tel. (or whatever), give a call to the
Microblackboard, now that you have the schedule in the DATA
statements in the Micro-memo program.
10 open5,2,3,chr$<38)+chr$< 160) sprint
chr$(14):printchr*(8)
£0 ifpeeK (5927 1 )=208thenmach=64:md =56
577: cl =0:n=0
30 if peeK (53271 )=232thenmaeh=20:md=37
136:dimtX<£55) ,ms$<50)
40 cr$=chr*< 13) +chr*< 10) :pr intchr*( 14
7) :pr int sprint
50 n=n + 1 :readn$:ms$ i ;n )=n$s rem
<3 spaces)*<7 spaces >miero-memo
<7 spaces)*
60 ifn$< >"xx"then50srem<9 spaces)*
<3 spaces>r.e. byers - may '35
<2 spaces)*
70 n=n-l:rem<£0 spaces>*<7 spaces>tru
ro , n .s . <6 spaces >*
80 forj=0to255:t%<j )=0:next :rern *
<£ spaces >bbs # is 902-893-374£ *
90 iorj=3BtoG4it'A<ij )=j:next:tX<13)=13
:-ty.(£0)=3:t%<160)=3£
100 for j =65to90:t7.C.j )=j+3£:next :for j =
9 ito95 :f/.< j )=j :next
110 -forj=193to£18:tX<j )=j -128: next
120 forj=0to255:x=tX(j ):next
130 poKemd+£,3£:poKemd,0:cl=cl+l :m=0
140 printc*:printchr$(147):print:
pr int "Waiting -for call 8"lcl
150 pr int :pr int "Set modem to Data and
<space >Answer . "
160 poKemd ,0:x=peeK <md )and8
170 ifx<)0thenl60
130 poKemd+2,0:poKemd ,32
130 pr int :pr int "Phone Answered!":
pr int :pr int "Wait ing -for carrier."
:ct=0
200 x=peeK(md)and 16: i-fx=0thenpoKemd ,0
:goto230
210 if ct >300thenpr int "Disconnected " :
goto 130
220 ct=ct+l :goto200
230 fori=lto 500:nexti
£40 p$="hit return":pr int#5,cr*;cr*;p
$:pr intp$
250 tt=ti
260 get#5,a$:x=peeK <md)andl6: ifx<>0
thenl30
270 te=(ti-tt)/60: if te >45then 130
280 ifa*Ochr$<i3)then260
290 pr int#5,cr*:pr int
300 m=m+l
310 f or j =ltolen <ms$(m) )
320 t$=mid$<ms*<:m),j ,1)
330 pr int t$; sprint 1*5, chr$(tX<asc <t$) )
); : next j
340 get#5,a$: if a$<>" "thenf or i =lto9000
snext i
350 print#5,cr$:print: if m<nthen300
360 f or i=lto 16000:next i :goto 130
370 data"<10 spaces)"
380 data "=#=#=#=#=« =#=#=tt=tt=tt =#=#=#=#
390 data" "
400 data"< Press RETURN for 10 sec. p
ause )"
410 data" "
420 data M You have dialed the correct
<space >number for"
22 TPUG Magazine
Micro Processes.
430 data"the MICROBLACKBDARD Bulletin
<space >Board . "
440 data"Unf ortunately , the regular B
BS is not"
450 data"on at the moment. This is jus
t a short "
460 data"message to invite you to cal
1 bacK at"
470 data"another time. The BBS nou op
e rates "
430 data"accord ing to the -following s
chedule: "
430 data"<2 spaces)"
509 data"Tuesday , Friday, and Saturda
V -"
510 data"l£:30 noon until 1B:30 at ni
ght."
5£0 data"<£ spaces)"
530 data"It will also usually be avai
1 ab 1 e "
546 data"on Sunday evenings."
550 data"<£ spaces)"
560 data"ThanKs for your interest. PI
ease "
570 data"come bacK again!"
560 data"For -further information, cal
1 "
530 data"30£-335-8346 on the voice ph
one. "
600 data"<E spaces)"
610 data "PLEASE DISCONNECT."
6E0 data "xx"
The Software Jungle
J. Allan Farquharson
Would you run an uncopyable commercial program on your Com-
modore 64? If you do, you play Russian roulette each time you
use the system. Ultimately, the disk gets corrupted and refuses
to play silly games. Now you have a problem: the system crashes!
Send the disk and proof of purchase to the manufacturer and
they will send you a new copy for 'a nominal fee'. In a month
or two you will be back in business. I wouldn't want to get myself
in that situation with any program on which I depend for one
penny of my livelihood. Would you?
As a software developer, I hate pirates. These are folks that
enjoy putting the developer, his staff (including the program-
mer) and the dealer out of business. The usual excuse is: "But
we wouldn't buy the program anyway!" If you have taken mer-
chandise off the shelf without paying for it, telling the judge
you wouldn't have bought it anyway is surely an outrageous
argument. As laws are changed in various countries, severe
penalties will be legislated for these same offenders. In a word:
they are thieves!
The fact of piracy notwithstanding, my firm poliey is this:
Never buy any program that cannot be backed up, or for which
the supplier won't give you back-up copies at the point of sale.
If we all do this, those programs will soon die. When a good
program sells for 49 dollars and is meant for business, surely
the temptation to pirate is less, the reason to buy is greater.
Another rule: When no manufacturer's address is on the box
or manual, do not buy the program. No one should be ashamed
of his product!
A final rule: If the documentation is poor, don't buy the pro-
gram. No one should have to struggle with bad documentation
in order to use a program.
I have many commercial programs that are protected by
'dongles' and ROM chips. They are a pain but at least they allow
backups — until the dongle or ROM chips fail to work because
they wear out the socket.
I would love to hear from folks who find good commercial soft-
ware for any Commodore computer that will allow backups.
Perhaps we could publish a list at a later date. For those brave
souls who trust their luck and operate a system on non-backup
disks, be forewarned: You will become a follower of mine, sooner
or later. □
Spooling
on the B128
Elizabeth Deal
Long ago in COMPUTE!, T.M. Patterson showed how to spool
files from disk to printer on the PET. Here is a version for the
B128 machine and a CBM IEEE (4023) printer. I do not know if
non-IEEE printers will work. The program is not in BASIC, as
I was unable to convert the PET method directly. But the logic
is the same: set up the disk as a talker, the printer as a listener,
and disconnect.
Spooling is a very useful thing: printers are notoriously slow.
When they print, you can't do anything else. Spooling permits
you to use the computer while the printer and disk are talking to
each other. The only thing you cannot do is try to use the printer
or the disk while spooling is in progress, as this aborts spooling.
In fact, this is how we quit early — by accessing the disk.
To use the program, type everything up to line 230 and run it.
The program pokes some machine code into bank 15. Any time
you plan to spool files, load and run this program, with the excep-
tion of line 260. Then load any program you wish to play with.
When all is ready you can begin spooling using the OPEN . . .
SYS command in line 260.
Superscript files that have been output to disk using the 'S'
command can be so spooled. In fact, this was a key reason why I
wrote this spooler. Superscript has a 'background' printing com-
mand, but it does not seem to work very well — you can only type
when the printer prints carriage returns, and the spooling is
tediously slow. The program shown below spools at the printer's
speed.
Is spooling limited to word processing files? No, any sequential
file can be spooled, including programs listed to disk as ASCII
files.
Incidentally, people often ask if there is a way to bring pro-
grams into word processing systems. Yes, just make an ASCII
file like this:
OPEN 1,3, 3, "0:1 ist ing ,s ,u " :CMD ULIST
September 1985 23
Micro Processes:
When the cursor comes back, enter:
PRINT* IS CLOSE 1
at which point you have a sequential file. It can be entered into
most word processors, and it can be spooled to a printer or sent
over the telephone. If the listing was made on the PET with
BASIC 1 or 2 (upgrade), there will be line-feed characters at the
beginning of every line. Superscript does not ignore line-feed
characters, so you will have to delete the entire column of j's
before you can work on such files. □
100
110
120
130
140
150
160
170
180
190
£00
£10
££0
£30
£40
250
260
270
£80
£90
300
310
3£0
330
340
350
360
370
380
390
400
410
4£0
rem save "0:spool bl£8",8:rem
<4 spaces >el izabeth deal
al
rem line £50 spools seq -files,
lowing full use o-f computer,
rem except ieee. use -for prg-list
ings , uiordpro/superscr ipt s-files
■
rem bus use or Key 1 aborts spool
ing and/or closes the -files,
rem based on idea of t.m. paterso
n for the pet.
■
Key 1 , "open 15,8, 15:close 15:rem qu
it spool
data 3£, 174, £55, 173,0, £22, 41 ,247,
141,0,2££,165,159,3£,180,255
data 165,160,32,150,255,169,4,32,
177,255,173,0,2££,9,3,141
data 0, £22, 169, 0,133, 16 1,14 1,96, 3
,36
banK 15: ad=G80srem machine code a
t *f02a8
for j =0 to 4l!read vSpoKe ad+j,w:
s=<s+v*j )and 255:next j
if s < >235 then stopJoooops!
■
rem once mc is set up, this can b
e used in direct mode
open 1,8,3, "l:spool *,s,r":banK 15
:sys 680:end
rem disassembly, code can be p 1 ac
ed anywhere in banK 15
f0400
;unl i
f0403
;atn
f0406
f0408
f040b
;tell
f040d
f0410
f0412
f0415
;tell
f0417
f041a
;atn
f041d
; now
20 ae ff
sten the
ad 00 de
true to s
£9 f7
3d 00 de
a5 9f
disk to
£0 b4 ff
a5 a0
£0 96 ff
a9 04
pr inter
£0 bl ff
ad 00 de
false to
09 08
disK can
bus
jsr $ffae
end
Id
or
an
st
Id
talK
js
Id
Js
Id
dev#4
js
Id
end co
or
send b
a $de00
ders
d #$f7
a $de00
a $9f
r $ffb4
a Sa0
r $ff96
a #$04
to 1 isten
r $ffbl
a $de00
mmands .
a #$08
ytes
430 f041f 8d 00 de sta $de00
;to the printer.
440 f04££ a9 00 Ida #$00
;maKe the computer normal -
450 f04£4 85 al sta $al
/Keyboard standard input
460 f04£6 8d 60 03 sta $0360
;no open files
470 f04£9 60 rts
480 rem
Keeping
Victor
Vibrant
Howard M. Mesick
Some people think that, like the TRS-80 Model 1, the VIC 20 is
now suitable only for use as a boat anchor. Well, I've got news
for them. Unlike the original Radio Shack home computer, the
VIC 20 isn't heavy enough.
Kidding aside, there's still a lot of life — and support! — for a
home computer that has sold millions of copies worldwide.
Many companies dropped their hardware and software for
poor Victor the moment its discontinuance was announced, yet
it pays to shop around because some stores still have tons of
stuff, often at close-out prices. Stereo Discounter's mail-order
catalogues (6730 Santa Barbara Court, Baltimore, MD 21227)
have offered VIC programs at fabulous prices. If you live in the
US, you might try calling them on their toll-free order number,
1-800-638-3920. The large K-B Toy and Hobby chain is also
receiving much VIC software and selling it (mostly games, but
some word processors, machine language monitors, and so on)
for three to ten dollars (US). I have visited about three stores
in Pennsylvania and Delaware and found about a four-foot shelf
of software in each.
In its dying gasp, the defunct National VIC 20 User's Group
"strongly recommended" a program from AHOY! magazine that
gives a 40 column screen and PET compatibility to the VIC. It
also reportedly runs any C-64 BASIC programs that do not have
incompatible pokes or colour commands. I have not tried it
because it eats 8K, and I don't need it. According to NVUG, a
disk (tape also available) costs $8.95 (US), cheque payable to Dou-
ble L Software, Ion International, Inc., 45 West 34th Street,
Suite 407, New York, NY 10001. Any intrepid VIC user want to
try it?
Regarding hardware compatibility with future Commodore
peripherals, who knows? SYS 64490, as I wrote in an earlier
issue, slows down the serial port so that some 1526/802 printers
work when they otherwise would stop at the end of a line. My
latest experience, and that of others, indicates that use of tape
I/O sometimes resets the port to VIC speed, bringing back the
problem. I don't know of any other difficulties. SYS 64490,
therefore, might be useful on any future Commodore disk drives
or printers that don't like VIC's faster processing speed. Try ex-
tensively those applications most critical to you before you buy.
With over a million units out there somewhere, VIC is far from
dead. You've only got to look a little harder to find what you
need. □
24 TPUG Magazine
Micro Processesj
Directory
Subroutine
M. Garamszeghy
Many BASIC programs make use of disk data files to store
everything from mailing lists to expense data. In many of these
programs, it is very useful to display the disk directory,
especially just before being prompted to enter the name of a data
file to.be read. Seeing a list of data files on the screen will
eliminate much of the guesswork associated with deciding which
data file you want to read and the exact spelling of the filename.
(Nothing is more exasperating than to enter what you thought
was a perfectly legitimate filename only to find the little red
error light flashing on the disk drive.)
Some versions of BASIC have a command (such as FILES on
the IBM-PC) which will read and display the disk directory from
within a BASIC program. Unfortunately, this feature is not
implemented on the version of Commodore BASIC used on the
VIC 20 and the Commodore 64.
Directory is a handy subroutine to read and display the disk
directory without overlaying the current program memory. It
can be included in any Commodore BASIC program. A simple
GOSUB 50000 statement in the main program will clear the
screen and display the disk directory. In order to fit as many
entries as possible on the screen, the directory will be displayed
as a continuous string, with the entries separated by a slash (/).
The subroutine can easily be customized to display only certain
entries in the directory by including a conditional statement in
line 50120. For example, if the data files used by a given program
all had similar names such as Datal, Data2, Data3, and so on,
line 50120 could read:
50120 IF LEFT* (X*,4>= "DATA "THEN PRINT
X*+"/";
The subroutine would then only display the names of datafiles
that were relevant to the program, avoiding screen clutter.
Using this principle, one can 'encode' filenames so that they
can only be read by certain programs. One way to do this is to in-
clude a non-printing ASCII control character in the filename,
.such as CHR$(7). For example, your program will probably in-
clude a line similar to:
100 INPUT "ENTER FILENAME"^*
To 'encode' this name, the following statement can be added to
your program:
101 F$=CHR$':7)+F*
In this example, changing line 50120 of the Directory subroutine
to:
50120 IF A3C<X*)=7 THEN PRINT X*+"/";
will produce a selective listing of the relevant datafiles. Since
CHR$(7) is a non-printing character, it will not be displayed by
the Directory subroutine. In addition, since it is not easy to enter
CHR$(7) directly from the keyboard, this file cannot be accessed
by any program that does not include a line similar to line 101 us-
ed above.
By using different control codes for each of your programs,
you can always be sure of which datafile goes with which pro-
gram. Some caution is required when using certain control
characters for this purpose. For example, CHR$(5) will change
the letter colour to white on the screen display, which may not be
what you want; CHR$(1 3) will produce an inadvertent carriage
return; and CHRS(14) will cause the display to mysteriously
switch to the uppercase/lowercase character set. Even these con-
trol codes can be used, however, if due consideration is given to
the effect that they will have when the filename is printed either
to the screen or to a printer. Some control codes affect different
printers in different ways, adding to the confusion. It is also in-
teresting to note that most control characters will appear on the
normal disk directory listing (the one you get with
LOAD"$",8:LIST) as inverse video characters. This immediately
identifies them as datafiles belonging to a given program.
Directory is written entirely in Commodore BASIC 2, and will
run without modification on any Commodore computer and disk
drive using the 1541 disk format. Adding this simple routine to
your programs won't save you a lot of grief when you are trying
to remember which data file contains your great aunt Betty's ad-
dress, but at least it will display the choices to vou on the screen.
□
50000 pr int"<clr >": open 1 ,8,0, "$0": rem
<space >d irectory subroutine by
<space >m. garamszeghy
50010 Kl=0:getttl ,a*,a$
50020 get#l,a$,a*,a$,b$:x$="" sc=0
59030 ifa*<>""thenc=asc<a*>
50040 ifb3><>" "thenc=c+asc<b*>*256
50050 getSl ,b*: ifst <>0then50 140
50060 ifb$<>chr*<34)then50050
50070 getttl ,b*: ifb*< >chr *<34)andb$< >
chr$( 1 80 )thenx$=x*+b$: got o 50070
50080 if Kl = lthenx $=*:$+"*"
50090 getttl ,b*: i-f b$=chr$<32 )orb*=chr*
(160)-then50030
50100 x*=x$+b*:get#l ,b$: i-f b$<>" "then 5
0100
501 10 ifK l=0t hen print " <rus > " I :k 1 = 1
50120 pr intx*"/<off >";
50130 ifst=0then500£0
50140 x*=chr*( 13)+str$<c)+"<2 spaces >
blocks f ree " :pr intx$
50150 close 1 ^return
RECHARGER NOTICE
Please note that the contest
closing date given in our centre
insert has been extended to
September 30, 1985, for TPUG
members only.
Please make certain the word
TPUG appears on your entry.
Thanks.
September 1965 25
Library Additions
TPUG's library of public domain soft-
ware grows month by month. Hundreds
of disks containing thousands of pro-
grams are available to TPUG members at
the nominal cost often dollars per disk.
Considering that each disk is packed with
good programs, at today's software prices,
this is a fantastic value.
In order for the library to keep grow-
ing, our librarians need a constant supply
of new programs. If you have written a
program or a collection of programs that
you think might be an asset to the library,
please send it to: TPUG Program
Library, 101 Duncan Mill Road, Suite
G7, Don Mills, Ontario MSB lZS,
Canada. Please note: this is our new ad-
dress. If your contribution is accepted,
you will be sent the library disk of your
choice. If, for sortie reason, your contribu-
tion is not needed, your original disk will
be returned to you.
On these pages our librarians describe
recent additions to the library.
Note: Descriptions for new Commodore
6i disks were unfortunately not available
in time for this issue. Regular coverage
of Commodore 64 disks will resume next
month.
VIC 20 Disk (V)TJ
Presented by Richard Best
I'm excited about this disk for both the
quality and variety of programs contained
on it. There are some excellent games for
all age groups, a few 'productivity' pro-
grams, and a number of exceptional
utilities. But first, a few notes about the
codes you will be seeing in VIC program
titles.
Not all VIC owners have memory ex-
pansion, and not all programs have the
same expansion requirements, so I hope
the following system will help. A program
labelled V5K will only run reliably on an
unexpanded VIC, and may or may not
run with 3K of expansion. Programs re-
quiring an 8K expander will be labelled
V12K, and those needing 16K extra will
be labelled V20K. As before, programs
requiring a SuperExpander will be
labelled VSX. And now, to the September
disk.
If PC II looks familiar, it should. It is
an m/1 update of Puck Man, a BASIC
'Pac Man' clone. Get out your joystick
and stay alert. Another upgrade is Star
Trek, written for 5K — a classic. Also in
the 'fast lane' is a program called Road
Riki, in which one tries to get Riki across
a busy street and safely to the TPUG
office. Like 'Frogger', but trickier. City
Crusher requires that you level a city by
bombing it before you can land your space
vehicle.
For slower-paced game players, we
have Escape. You must find your way out
of a maze, using an internal view, a la
'Labyrinth'. For the very young, there is
Etch-a-VIC, which turns your screen and
joystick into a doodle pad. The popular
'Scissors/Rock/Paper' game has been
turned into S-R-P. You play against the
VIC. On a more aggressive note is
Missile Cmd, a faithful (if limited)
remake of the arcade hit.
Lest your mind wither from all this
game playing, we have included Moon
Phases, which calculates any year from
100 to 9999. Stats will do a lot of
statistical analyses on a large variety of
data. For you mathematicians, Funct
Anal will calculate a given function; or
a new one may be programmed in. Base
Convert makes conversions in four dif-
ferent numbering systems.
If you are keen to add some m/1 to your
programs, or just see how quickly things
can happen, have a look at Screenfil and
Colourfil. Address File is a very good
personal database that features crash-
proof input and a handy disk routine. Also
for your disk is Disk Menu, which will
help you load and run programs, or check
disk status.
Soon to be the most used program in
your disk library is Unicopy, a fast and
efficient copy utility from Jim Butterfield.
And if that's not enough to keep you up
late at night, try VIC FAT-40, a forty-
column PET emulator that works with
most BASIC and older PET programs.
Imagine ... 40 columns on a VIC!
PET Disk (P)TJ
Presented by Mike Donegan
Crossword. p is a crossword puzzle
generator. It allows you to try various
formats for a given set of words, and to
print the results. X-word file.d is a file
of sample data for this program.
Coefficient.p is a mathematical utility for
finding the correlation coefficient of two
variables. Instructions are included in the
program.
Gradebook.8 is for teachers to use in
keeping track of their students' progress.
The instructions are contained in
gradebook inst.8. There are several sub-
programs contained in other files — add
file.8, copy file.8 and names.8. The
package is an upgrade of gradebk-
grades.z on TPUG disk (P)TS from
March 1983.
Marquee. 8 allows you to create a horizon-
tal moving sign or marquee. Instructions
are included in the program.
The following games are from the Com-
modore Educational Group or the Ontario
Educational Software Project. All these
games require 16K to run, and all disable
the stop key.
Castle quest.z is an adventure game.
Your task is to find the treasure in the
castle and avoid the perils while you
explore!
Chase.z is a two-player game in which
you pursue your opponent around the
screen, avoid obstacles, and score points.
Dragon island. z is a variation of the
game 'Hunt the Wumpus'. You hunt the
dragon in the island's cave with your trus-
ty spear, but beware — the dragon can
be dangerous.
Maze. z will generate mazes of varying
sizes. You then try to find your way
through the maze, running against the
clock.
Nuc pow plant.z is a game simulation in
which you try your hand at running a
nuclear power plant, without the nasty
side effects if you fail. The trick is to
balance the high temperatures needed for
power generation against the
temperature limits of the power plant
equipment.
Road hazzards.z is based on the game
'Mille Bornes'. You play against the com-
puter to see who can travel 1000 miles
first.
Cbm 4032 v2 is a utility which will con-
vert your 8032 to a 40 column machine
for the purpose of playing the games
programs.
26 TPUG Magazine
Library Additions:
16 "1 ist-me (p >tj . 1 " p r 3
S2 "cross nor d.p " prg
2 "x-word ffle.d" seq
67 "coe-f-f icient .p" prg
13 "gradebooK inst.S" prg
29 "gradebooK. S" prg
8 "add file. 8" prg
4 "co?\- f i 1 a . 8 " f r" g
IS "names. 8" prg
23 "marquee. 8" prg
57 "castle quest. z" prg
34 "chase.z" prg
32 "dragon island.z" prg
23 "maze. 2" erg
"nur pou p 1 ant . z " peg
5G "road hazzards.z" prg
4 "cbm 4022 ','2" prg
191 bio zv.i free.
PET Disk (P)TK
Presented by Mike Donegan
Ontario driver. p gives you a chance to
try to pass the written exam for your
driver's licence. Non-Ontario regulations
may differ slightly!
Diskview 3.z is a utility that lets you look
at your disk, byte by byte. You can look
at any block in hex or decimal, change a
block, unscratch, or trace the blocks of a
file.
Pres gizmo.p contains part of Keith
Faulkner's presentation on the User Port
at the TPUG Conference this year. The
program can also be used to present other
information, by using multiple screens.
Pres rs232.p contains part of Keith
Faulkner's presentation on the RS 232 in-
terface at the TPUG Conference this
year. The program can also be used to
present other information, by using
multiple screens.
Marathon track. 8 is a program to help
you keep track .of runners in a marathon
race. It will sort runners in up to twenty -
six groups by class and time. The instruc-
tions for the program may be sent to
either the screen or the printer, using
marathon isnst.z. Subprograms for this
package include doc. marathon, sorted
and unsort.
Mouse maze.z is a game in which you
guide a mouse through a maze.
Planet landing. z gives you a chance to
land the Canadian Jupiter lander.
Pet man.z is a 'Pac Man'-like game, writ-
ten in BASIC.
19 "1 ist-Bie <P >tK .1 " prg
107 "ontario driyer.p" prg
83 "disKyieu 3.z" prg
97 "pres g izmo . p " prg
97 "pre; rs£32.p" prg
9 "doc. marathon" seq
2 "sorted" s e q
£ "unsort" seq
20 "marathon tracK.S" Frg
2 "marathon inst.z" prg
54 "mouse maze.z" prg
43 "planet Landing.?" prg
4S "pet man . z " prg
83 blocKs free.
Submissions to the PET/CBM library
are currently almost nonexistent, and it's
getting harder to get a disk together. If
any of you have any interesting pro-
grams, we need them for the library.
Functional programs are very much in
demand. For example, business applica-
tions are in short supply, and the farm
programs that were on the February
1985 disk are also quite popular.
If anybody has a program or package
that was originally intended for sale, but
is now not saleable due to poor markets,
TPUG will distribute the program
through our library, with a message like
the following:
This program is freeware. If you want up-
dates or further documentation suck as
manuals, you will have to contact the
author and -pay a fee for the extra support.
The author gets the program distributed
at no charge, and only has to deal with
people who are interested in it; thus
advertising, distribution costs and
royalties are not involved.
We are especially interested in business
packages that are no longer distributed
in the retail area, but of which the author
still has unsold copies in stock, and wants
to sell them at a reasonable cost (in line
with the relatively low cost of used
PET/CBM equipment).
SuperPET Disks (S)TP
and (S)TQ,R,S
Presented by Bill Dutfield
These April and May disks will be of
primary interest to scientific and
mathematically-inclined SuperPET users.
April's contributions are of a more
general mathematical nature, while
May's disk is very specialized.
The April disk contains mainly new
material, along with updates to a number
of programs previously distributed. Let's
start with the new material first. These
include mathematical subroutines written
in Fortran that compute solutions to
commonly-encountered numerical pro-
blems. There is also a plotting package.
Subroutines for the solution of the follow-
ing types of problems are provided.
• Solution of systems of linear equations,
using Gaussian elimination.
• A Spline interpolation routine, to deter-
mine the intermediate values between
given points.
• A numerical quadrature program for
calculating the integral of a function.
• A second integration routine, based on
the Runge-Kutta algorithm. It will solve
a system of first order differential equa-
tions to a specified accuracy.
• A subroutine to find a zero of a
function.
• A function to find the minimum of a
function.
• A program to perform the singular
value decomposition of a matrix. It can
be used with singular or rectangular
matrices, and will determine the rank, the
determinant and the generalized inverse
of the matrix.
• A routine to find the eigenvalues of a
general real matrix.
The above fortran programs were made
available by Doug Staley. The other new
program on the April disk is a plotting
package provided by Avy Moise that will
drive a Hewlett-Packard plotter. The
Fortran package provides the
subroutines necessary to control the posi-
tion of the plotting pen, and to
automatically generate selected
geometric figures.
The updated material on this disk consists
of:
• Plot-8300Pv3, for a Diablo 630 or
equivalent printer. It has corrections to
log-log and log-linear scaling.
• Upgrades to the DOS:MEM program,
from Alain Proulx, to correct a printer
bug.
• A complete text file for eda.over-
view.txt, which was missing some appen-
dix material, as distributed on the original
EDA disk.
The May contribution is distributed on
three 4040 disks or one 8050. It, too, has
been provided by Doug Staley. The pro-
grams are an integrated set of Fortran
subroutines for the design of modern con-
trol systems. These subroutines imple-
ment the most important design algor-
ithms for developing linear time-invariant
control systems. Besides the subroutines,
four examples are provided. These com-
pute the eigenvalues of a linear system,
simulate a linear system, design and
simulate an optimal linear regulator and,
lastly, design and simulate a Kalman-
Bucy filter.
Each subroutine is well documented,
and the collection of subroutines provides
a reasonably full set of matrix handling
programs. Functions are provided for
September 1985 27
Library Additions
computing eigenvalues, reading in or out-
putting a matrix or vector, solving linear
equations, finding the roots of a poly-
nomial equation, printer plotting,
multiplying two matrices, forming dot
products, and so on.
Both April and May disks have suppor-
ting documentation files, along with the
customary describe files.
SuperPET Disks
(S)TU,V,W
Presented by Bill Dutfield
The only program on the June disk (one
8050 or three 4040s) is a freeware offer-
ing from Delton B. Richardson. This pro-
gram, comprised of a set of routines,
allows the owner of a Commodore 8023P
printer to compose graphic images and
output them to his printer. These high
resolution graphics (512 by 768 pixels)
produce a picture that fits on an 8.5 by
11-inch page. The program, called SPSG,
has a BASIC 4.0 driver and about 4K of
6502 machine language code. The
machine language routines reside in high
memory, while banked memory is used to
hold two character fonts. Banked
memory is also used to store the high
resolution image being built. The graphics
under construction are shown in a win-
dow where a portion of the image (42 by
144 pixels) is displayed.
The program has functions for saving
and recalling images to and from disk,
clearing the picture, printing the image,
adding text to the graphics image, block
copy and save functions, along with the
ability to draw boxes, circles and lines, fill
enclosed areas, and so forth. There are
supporting utilities that are used to define
custom fonts or special character sets for
use by SPSG.
The level of documentation provided
with this disk is very complete, as one
would expect of a freeware disk. There
are several documentation files accessed
by the 6809 mEditor, which provide an
introduction, a description, and a tutorial
on using the package. Also on the disk is
all the assembler code, which is set up for
assembly with the WATCOM's 6502
Development System.
SuperPET Disks
(S)TX,Y
Presented by Bill Dutfield
This disk {one 8050 or two 4040s) con-
tains recent contributions from ISPUG,
in particular their new mEditor, written
by Joe Bostic. This editor is modelled on
the Waterloo mEditor we are all familar
with. It does all the same things, plus a
lot more. If you are familiar with the
original, adjusting to this version is very
easy. What are the areas of improve-
ment? There are many, but I will only
review the more noteworthy here.
There is now a true capability to move
or copy lines of text from one part of the
file to another — a truly worthwhile ad-
dition. There are still no split and join
functions. The next significant feature is
the extended help screens (two of them),
which provide the format of each com-
mand. Directories are now displayed in
two-column format, sorted either
alphabetically or in the order they are
stored on disk. Commands can be entered
on these display panels while the name
of the file remains visible. Next, in input
mode there is now word wrap to the next
line, rather than returning to the start of
the same line and overwriting the text
you just entered. Disk files can be set up
with command sequences and input as
batch files, then executed by the editor.
Dick Barnes has written a very nice
program called CALC that sums columns
of digits; converts binary, decimal or hex
into any other notation; converts ASCII
code to character, or vice-versa; does in-
teger arithmetic in hex, decimal or
binary; and does all floating point
arithmetic. This program has been mar-
ried to the editor to provide a really
powerful facility. There are many other
features of these two programs — too
many to mention here.
Another nice utility from ISPUG is
Loch Rose's COPY/KILL, a machine
language program that loads and runs
from the main menu. It provides facilities
for reading any sequential file, for mark-
ing files for deletion, and for marking
files for copying.
The other main program on the
September disk is a text formatter for the
Commodore 8023P printer, contributed
by John Bos. It provides for the format-
ting of text based on embedded tags. In
the font selected, you can underline, use
bold or reverse print, set margins and
plot text layout. It also provides for
embedded files and run-time text inser-
tion. Between this program for the 8023P
and finish on the January 1985 disk, for
Epson printers, there should be a pro-
gram you can modify to your printer.
The other items on this disk includes
patches (number three) for mBasic and
for mFortran, SuperPET memory maps
sorted by title of routine and by address,
a program to convert 6809 files to
PaperClip format, and a routine for use
with the Waterloo mEditor, to provide an
80 character buffer for saving and recall-
ing single lines. □
Commodore 64
Disk(C)TJ
9
■menu . c " ,3:
prg
1
"menuml "
prg
2
" me n u -f i 1 e "
seq
47
" d o c f i 1 e "
seq
39
"no r t h r- u p d o u ri s . c "
prg
1
"hr"
seq
3
"1 1st -me an imal .1 "
prg
1 1
"an imal . c "
prg
4
" a n i raa 1 i n i t . c "
prg
1
"quest ions "
seq
1
"answers "
seq
55
"■tennis stat vl.c"
prg
1 1
"■tennis inst.c"
prg
3
"1 is-t-me quiz .1 "
prg
57
"quiz .c"
prg
18
"print qu iz . c "
prg
;
"pool 1 oader . c "
prg
"J3
" P ool£"
prg
S3
"type it.c"
prg
30
"typv toes.c"
Frg
72
"crossword. c"
prg
5
■x-uord -file.d"
seq
15
"calendar . c "
rrg
17
"go 1 -f docc"
prg
22
"course update "
prg
54
"go 1 -f hand icap "
prg
39
"ucr 1 d conquest ,c "
prg
34
"-funk' r cck , c "
Frg
17 blocks -free.
Commodore 64
Disk (C)TK
9
" me n u . c '
prg
1
"menuml "
prg
2
"menuf il e "
seq
36
"doc-file"
seq
3
'doc pr inter , c "
prg
37
"pres .rs232.c "
prg
97
"pres .g izmo .c "
prg
1
"pole boot .c '
prg
8
■ instruct ions "
prg
102
"phonepol e "
prg
G
"memdump8£8 ins.c"
prg
7
"memdump8£8. c "
prg
5
"memdumpdemo .c "
prg
5
"memcompare ins.c"
prg
8
"memcompare ,c "
prg
17
"spscr-bas ins . c "
prg
11
"spscr -bas , c "
prg
18
"mlappend ins.c"
prg
S
"ml append ■ c ■
prg
1
n dump3-boot ,c"
prg
4
"dump3-bas ic .d "
prg
3
"dump3-m/l .d "
prg
15
"dump3-sr c . d "
seq
3£
"c-64 picture. d"
prg
22
"d isK house ,c "
prg
113
"basic Keywords. c"
prg
12
"mortgage.c"
prg
20
blocKs -free.
28 TPUG Magazine
416-445-4524
Name.
Street Address .
City/Town/P.O. .
Province/State .
Postal/ZIP Code
SOFTWARE ORDER FORM
TORONTO PET USERS GROUP
101 Duncan Mill Road, Suite G-7
Don Mills, Ontario
M3B 1Z3
Membership No.
416-445-4524
. Telephone
DISKS
To order club disks by mail, send $10.00 for each 4040/2031/1540/1541 disk (4040 format), and $12.00 for
each 8050/8250 disk (8050 format). We do honour purchase orders from school boards.
These disks are for use with a computer and a disk drive.
Please send me the following:
3 Letter/No. 4040 or 8050
Code Description Format Price
Total
.00
TAPES
To order VIC 20 or Commodore 64 library tapes, send $6.00 for each tape.
To order PET/CBM or Commodore Educational Software, send $10.00 for each tape.
These tapes are for use with a
If for a PET computer, what model
3 Letter/No.
Code
computer and a datasette.
Description
- BASIC- 1.0( ), 2.0( ), 4.0( )?
Price
Total
.00
The prices indicated include postage and handling as well as Ontario Provincial Sales Tax (if applicable).
□ Cheque/money order enclosed (payable to TPUG) □ Visa/Mastercard #
Expiry date Signature
Reviews.
F-15 Strike Eagle
from MicroProse
Flight combat simulation
for Commodore 64
and disk drive
Review by Garold R. Stone
You are flying only 500 feet above the
terrain at just over Mach 1, trying to
avoid enemy radar — so far, so good. The
target is straight ahead and coming up
fast. You pop up to 2500 feet, just long
enough to deliver the ordnance. Bombs
armed . . . Bombs away! One enemy SAM
site destroyed! This is beginning to look
like a milk run, all right. Suddenly, an
alert light flashes. . . an air-to-air missile
is homing in on you! Quick — release
decoy flares! Where did that come from?
There's an enemy fighter, right behind
you! Turn hard right, forcing him to fly
past you. Now come up behind him. Arm
your Sidewinder missile. Release it. . .
got him! But now the radar shows a sky
full of MiCis. Your choice is to return to
base, or press your luck against the
enemy's alerted air defence system. You
set course for the next target. (You don't
want to live for ever, do you?)
F-15 Strike Eagle is the hottest in a
series of increasingly sophisticated flight
simulation programs from MicroProse. It
appears to be faithful in most details to
the US-built, single-seat F-15E Strike
Eagle — an all-weather, air superiority,
ground attack fighter aircraft. The em-
phasis is on the F-15E's advanced
weapons and electronic cockpit displays,
including all major flight systems. The
DOS-protected disk is compatible with
MSD drives, as well as the Commodore
1541. Apple and Atari versions are also
available.
A Good Simulation
As the player, you are confronted with
seven combat scenarios demanding skilful
management of offensive and defensive
weapons systems, navigation, fuel con-
servation, air-to-air combat manoeuvres,
and ground attack procedures. The sim-
ulation does not include take-offs, radio
navigation, or landings — you return to
base by approaching it at low altitude
from any angle. Flight manoeuvres are
controlled with the joystick. Flight con-
trol surfaces are automatically trimmed,
so you don't need a million dollars in
flight training just to keep from crashing!
When approaching a stall, the aircraft
will try to right itself, if you don't fight
the stick when the warning horn sounds.
But there are still plenty of ways to crash
— by exceeding maximum velocity, for
example; or flying into the ground.
A Good Game
There are four skill levels: Arcade,
Rookie, Pilot and Ace. At the Arcade
level, the plane will not roll during turns,
simplifying flight control for those just
starting out. The other levels give full
control of the aircraft, with increasingly
aggressive enemy fighters and SAMs.
Anyone can fly this plane; it will take
some skill, however, to complete the
assigned missions without getting shot
down. Bailing out gives you only a 50-50
chance of being rescued, even over friend-
ly territory, so it pays to stay with the
plane to the bitter end. Up to four players
can compete for the highest score as they
take turns trying to survive all seven mis-
sions. The scores are reported at the end
of each mission, so they don't interfere
with the realism of the simulation.
The Flight Manual
The 36-page instruction booklet mimics
a US Air Force Flight Operations
Manual. It covers the aircraft's systems,
flight performance and weaponry, in-
cluding ten pages on basic aerodynamics,
aircraft control, air combat manoeuvres
and tactics, to fully prepare you for the
seven combat scenarios.
The Heads-Up-Display
The centerpiece of the F-15E cockpit is
the Heads-Up-Display (HUD) on the front
windscreen, through which you see the
sky and terrain. This is the top half of the
computer screen. Critical flight and
threat data are continuously displayed on
the HUD.
I was surprised to find no 'artificial
horizon' indicator to show the aircraft's
angle of bank. When you lose visual con-
tact with the horizon, you have no way
of knowing how sharply you are turning.
I sometimes use the 'line of impact' on the
air-to-ground reticle because it happens
to show the bank angle, but unfortunately
even this is not available, after all bombs
have been dropped.
Other Cockpit Displays
Just below the HUD, on the computer
screen, is the instrument panel, showing
air speed, heading in degrees and engine
speed. In the lower left is the Horizontal
Situation Display, an electronic map of
the battlefield, showing the movement of
the aircraft, and the location of targets
and geographic features. Using the cur-
sor keys, one can set the navigation cur-
sor at any map location and then simply
turn the plane until the NAV steering cue
is centred in the HUD to take the right
heading.
At the bottom centre of the screen is
the Radar-Electronic Warfare Display,
showing the read-out of your own radar,
as well as your Radar Warning Receiver's
detection of enemy radar signals, the
Infra-Red Warning Receiver's detection
of launched enemy missiles or the heat of
enemy aircraft engines. Ground targets
are also depicted on this screen for
reference. There is no read -out of the
relative altitude of target aircraft or ap-
proaching missiles. The only clue to this
is the air-to-air reticle in the HUD, which
shows the location of the closest of these
threats relative to the F-15E's line of
flight.
At bottom right is the Weapons Status
Display, showing the availability of
medium range missiles, short range
missiles, bombs, decoy flares and drop
fuel tanks. Remaining cannon rounds are
flashed as a message in the HUD when
the guns are fired.
In order to gain access to all weapons
and flight systems, you must properly
respond to an authentication query when
you first run the program. The 'Top
Secret' query/response pairs are printed
on every other page throughout the
manual. Be very careful here. You only
get one chance at the proper response;
if you goof, you have to load and run the
program again, which is rather irksome.
This kind of password protection scheme
should allow the legitimate owner of the
program at least one mistake before for-
cing a reload.
Up Front Control
On the F-15E the Up Front Control
(UFC) is immediately below the HUD,
again so the pilot can operate critical con-
trols without losing visual contact with a
target. Your keyboard serves as the UFC
30 TPUG Magazine
Revlewsj
and provides such functions as activating
guns, missiles and bombs, engine control,
switching between front and rear views,
and bailing out.
Combat Scenarios
The pilot is free to choose the targets and
flight route to accomplish progressively
more challenging missions in the follow-
ing settings:
• Libya, August 1981, Gulf of Sidra
• Egypt, October 1973, Yom Kippur War
• Vietnam, October 1973, night raid on
Haiphong
• Syria, March 1984, neutralize SA-9
build-up
• Vietnam, May 1972, night raid into
North Vietnam
• Iraq, June 1981, strike Iraqi nuclear
plant
• Persian Gulf, June 1984, Iran attacks
shipping
Realistic Enough
Since the F-15E has yet to see actual
eombat, these seven scenarios are, of
necessity, somewhat contrived. They are
also not 'historically' accurate in the
choice of aggressor country aircraft.
Every enemy country, even Iran, has
more or less the same Soviet SU-22,
MiG-21 and MiG-23 fighters, all of which
look and perform the same in this simula-
tion. They lack fancy tactics, but make up
for that by having a seemingly inexhaust-
ible supply of air-to-air missiles and can-
non. They don't seem to have any anti-
missile defences. Your missiles almost
never miss, though more than one hit
may be necessary for a kill. When an
enemy aircraft is at close range, a
recognizable (if sketchy) image of an
airplane appears on the screen, which
manoeuvres quite realistically. There are
no landmarks in the graphics, just the
ground, water, sky, sun and moon. The
targets and home base show up as a pur-
ple triangle on the HUD, if you are below
5000 feet.
This is a very good flight simulation
program with plenty of challenges to
maintain interest. For me, there was a
certain vicarious thrill when, after
repeated attempts, I finally completed
the first scenario successfully, and
returned to land on a US aircraft carrier
operating off the coast of Libya.
F'l 5 Strike Eagle, from MicroProse Soft-
ware, 10616 Dam Road, Hunt Valley MD.
$39.95 (US). D
Cardkey
from Cardco Inc.
Numeric keypad
for the Commodore 64
Review by Mike Martin
Cardkey numeric keypad, from Cardco
Inc., SISMathewson, Wichita KS 672U.
$50.00 (US).
The Cardkey is a full-featured keypad
compatible with both the C-64 and VIC
20 computers. It can be plugged into the
joystick port, but must be programmed.
A program is provided that matches the
information printed on the keys — the
digits from to 9, a period, ENTER, and
the math symbols for four functions. In-
structions are given for listing the pro-
gram, and you are also told how to
change the definitions for your special
programming needs.
The Cardkey can also be 'hardwired'
into the computer by ordering an adapter.
It costs about ten dollars, and has a
female joystick plug on one end. On the
other end is a small board with chips and
transistors. There are instructions on
how to open the computer, unplug one
connector, then plug the board between
the connector and pins. The installation
is easy and takes about ten minutes.
When used this way, no programming is
needed, and the keys will work with com-
mercial software. Since it is plugged in,
not soldered, it can easily be moved back
to the joystick port when desired.
There are a couple of minor problems.
First, the software is provided on
cassette tape, not on disk. If you don't
have a cassette unit, you will need to find
a friend who has one, and have him make
you a disk copy. The tape isn't protected,
so a backup or transfer to disk is easy.
However, if you have an SX100 version
of the C-64, there are no provisions for
cassette operations, and the instructions
for installation of the adapter do not men-
tion the difference in installation. Also
keep in mind that opening your computer
case will void the warranty.
If you have repairs done to the com-
puter by Commodore on an exchange
basis, remember to remove the adapter
before taking it in. It might not come
back with the new unit.
A calculator program is included on the
tape. It provides a standard calculator
with memory and print function. The pro-
gram works well, but is in BASIC, and
slow. If you enter numbers quickly, you
may be five or six digits ahead of your
screen display, and have to wait for the
display to catch up. Since math functions
in BASIC are accurate to only eight
digits, you will get some interesting ef-
fects past that number.
The package is good, works well, and
is useful. However, when I first worked
with the keypad/calculator, it suddenly
dawned on me that I had just paid fifty
dollars to convert a two hundred dollar
computer into a ten dollar pocket
calculator ... □
1660 Modem
from Commodore
for the Commodore 64,
VIC 20 and Plus/4
Review by AJay Jindal
Commodore has released a new modem;
the 1660 modem/300, for use with the
C-64, VIC 20 and Plus/4. It is available
in the Toronto area at 'Computers For
Less' in Mississauga. It is a 0-300 bps
modem with autodial and autoanswer.
The 1660 is about half the size of the
1650, is the same beige colour as the
Commodore 64, and has a built-in
speaker. There is only one switch on the
1660 (for originate and answer mode). In
addition to plugging the modem to the
jack, and the phone to the modem, you
also plug the audio output of the com-
puter to the modem. The audio connec-
tion allows you to use touch-tone dialling,
utilizing the sound chips in your C-64 or
Plus/4. However, the VIC 20 can't ac-
curately produce the tones, so the manual
recommends using rotary with a VIC.
With the exception of originate and
answer mode, all other modem functions
are software-controlled.
There is no carrier indicator light, but
the speaker emits a tone when a carrier
is detected and the modem automatically
goes on-line. The speaker turns itself off
when you are connected to another com-
puter. If you keep the modem plugged in
at other times, a humming sound comes
out of it. It isn't very loud, but can get
on your nerves. A splitter is provided so
that your audio output can be hooked up
to your modem and monitor simultan-
eously. However, anything that comes
out of your monitor speaker will also
come out of the modem speaker. The
speaker comes in handy when you
autodial, because you can hear everything
that goes on until you are actually
connected.
September 1985 31
Reviews.;
If you have a phone connected to the
modem, it is always operational. This
way, you can pick up the phone while
you're on-line and hear the modem fre-
quencies. The modem is treated like an
extension phone. When you program it
to be 'on the hook' it is de-activated.
When you program it to be 'off the hook'
it can transfer data. Most problems bet-
ween 1650 and 1660 software incompat-
ibility arise from this 'on/off hook' thing.
Aiong with the modem, you get a disk
with terminal software, a manual, all the
cables necessary to hook it up with (ex-
cept one that you should have got with
your C-64), a password for a free hour on
CompuServe and an application for a free
hour on Dow Jones News Service.
The terminal software for C-64 and
Plus/4 is called Higgyterm — a great pro-
gram, except that it doesn't upload or
download. It has a buffer, word wrap,
clock, printer/disk support, control and
escape characters, as well as other things.
The parameters, along with sixteen
definable function keys and a ten-entry
phone directory, can be saved to or loaded
from disk. This program takes advantage
of the touch-tone feature and can be set
up for auto-answer. Higgyterm also has
a 1650 mode, so people who have 1650s
might do well to get this program. VIC
20 users must have at least an 8K ex-
pander and use the mini version of the
program on the disk.
The manual is very attractive and well
laid out. It explains how to hook up the
modem to a C-64, Plus/4, SX-64 and VIC
20, complete with illustrations. Most of
the manual is dedicated to explaining how
to use Higgyterm and how to hook up to
CompuServe. The greatest shortcoming
of the manual is that it doesn't adequately
explain how to use the modem from a pro-
grammer's point of view. It doesn't give
information on how to open an RS 232
channel, dial (rotary), detect a carrier,
send or receive data, et cetera. The only
thing it tells you is how to produce the
touch-tone frequencies, program the
modem to be on or off the hook, and
detect if the phone is ringing for auto
answer mode (which is okay if you already
know about modems).
Higgyterm is a good program, but if
you want uploading and downloading, a
public domain program called Supercom
II is available, and this one supports the
1660, and both the old and the new CI
protocols. I have also submitted to the
TPUG library a version of Steve Punter's
Terminal CI that I have modified for the
1660.
All in all, I am not unhappy with the
1660, though I feel like a C-64 owner
when the C-64 was just released (not
much support). I am sure that since the
1650 is no longer produced by Com-
modore, commercial software will come
that supports the 1660, along with all
those third-party modems. □
1525 printer codes. This is fine if you are
using a CBM 1525 compatible, or MPS
801, but it is a problem if you are using
another type of printer.
Screen Dumper 64
from Micro-W
Screen dump program
for the Commodore 64
Review by Greg Payne
Recently I got the chance to compare
Screen Dumper 64 with Graphex, both
of them screen dump programs from dif-
ferent software companies. For testing
I used a Commodore 64, a 1541 disk drive
and four different printers: a CBM 1525,
an MPS 801, a Hush80, and an Epson
MX80 clone with a Card/? + G interface.
Screen Dumper 64 is easy to use, and all
documentation is on the disk. It can be
used in two ways: from a menu for Koala
pictures and Simons" BASIC pictures; or
in a triggered way, for dumping the con-
tents of the screen by using the
RESTORE key.
Two sizes of pictures can be printed: 6"
by 10" and 3" by 5". The larger one
represents all sixteen colours in multi-
coloured drawings by corresponding
grey-scale patterns. Smaller print-outs
are limited to four grey -scale patterns,
but a colour menu lets you pick a pattern
to represent the colours of your choice.
I find that Screen Dumper 64 works
very well with Koala pictures, and the pic-
tures that come out are very pleasing to
the eye. The triggered print-out seems to
work on some programs, but not on all
commercial software. It depends whether
or not the software disables the
RESTORE key, and where in the com-
puter the software resides.
Screen Dumper 64 is compatible with
the CBM-1525, MPS 801 and the Hush80
printers, but I could not get it to work
properly with the Epson MX80 and the
Card/? + G interface. The documentation
recommends using The Tymac Connec-
tion or Micro World MW 350 interfaces.
I did not have one of these, so I could not
try it with them.
The one major thing wrong with
Screen Dumper 64 is that there is no
printer setup. Also, it uses only CBM
Graphex
from Vision Software
Screen dump program
for the Commodore 64
The Graphex screen dumper disk con-
tains two programs. One dumps the con-
tents of a graphics screen in either high
or low resolution, and the other lets you
print the contents of a screenful of upper
and lower case characters. Commodore
graphics characters will also be printed,
if your printer allows it.
The Graphex screen dumper is com-
patible with the following printers: CBM
1526, CBM 1525, MPS 801, MPS 802,
Epson FX80, MX80, RX80, Spirit 80,
Admate, 4023 and Gemini 10X. It also
lets you pick a secondary address for the
type of interface you are using. It worked
excellently with all the printers I tried.
The Graphex screen dumper can be
used either from a menu, or by putting
the appropriate command in a program.
It has two menus: one for loading in a
graphics picture and one for printing.
In the first menu, you must specify
whether the picture is in memory or is a
KoalaPad, Logo, Chartpak, Doodle or
other type of picture file on disk. Once the
picture is loaded in, the program then
goes to the printer menu.
The Graphex screen dumper's printer
menu is quite extensive, allowing you
many options such as 'view picture', 'tab
picture horizontally', 'double wide',
'double height', 'rotation of image',
'multicolour mode', 'inversion of image',
and 'graphic mode' of printer. The
'graphic mode' lets you print different dot
densities, depending upon the type of
printer you are using.
I find the Graphex screen dumper to
be a very good program that does a nice
job on most hi-res pictures. It does seem
to have one flaw: some multicoloured pic-
tures from the KoalaPad are not print-
able using this program.
Screen Dumper 64 and the Graphex
screen dump each have their strong and
weak points. I find it hard to recommend
one over the other, and I think you should
make your own choice, based on the type
of printer you have and your own specific
needs. □
32 TPUG Magazine
Reviews:
Graphic Sr.
from Xetec
Printer interface
for the Commodore 64
Review by Mike Martin
Xetec is marketing a couple of interesting
printer interfaces that may make you
want to dump your old interface, work-
ing or not. The first that comes to mind
is the Graphics Jr., a standard feature in-
terface for the Commodore, with text and
graphics. While it is a good interface,
there is not much else to say about it. The
tional ones. Two sizes of fonts are pro-
vided: normal size, and super-fonts that
are two lines high. Creation of fonts is
easily accomplished with the screen
editor. An existing font may be modified,
or you can create one from scratch.
The manual is well written, clear and
concise, but the interface is not easily
mastered. The Graphics Sr. is capable of
so much that the command structure is
slightly complicated. The loaders pro-
vided (standard, fast-load and VIC) make
use of the fonts fairly easy. The interface
retains downloaded fonts for about fif-
teen minutes after the computer is turned
off, so even if you use a cartridge-based
word processor, you have plenty of time
Graphics Sr., on the other hand, is a
whole new ball game.
This interface includes an 8K buffer, a
complete manual, and a disk full of screen
dumps, pictures, demonstration pro-
grams, fonts and a Font Creator. The
interface will access four fonts at a time.
First is your basic dot matrix. Next comes
a 'near letter quality' font, and two user
selected fonts that are downloaded from
disk. Xetec provides over twenty dif-
ferent fonts on the disk, and a creator
program that allows creation of addi-
Expanded pica
Es-ejp&nciecd. elibe
Exp edhiexrr-fc elite
Normal pica
Normal elite
Normal short elite
These are the standard fonts pro-
vided with the Xetec printer inter-
face. There is also a near-letter-
quality mode.
to load the fonts, power down the com-
puter, and plug in a cartridge. The
demonstrator program on the Xetec disk
provides great screen dumps of the in-
cluded pictures, and allows demonstra-
tion of the fonts on the demo disk.
If you wish to include use of the inter-
face in your own programs, enough
technical information is provided to make
it possible, but you will still need to digest
lots of information on command channels,
seventeen secondary addresses and
twenty-three commands.
The manual gives directions on hookup
and setting the eight active dip switches.
Each switch is constantly monitored, and
changes are made when the printer final-
ly gets the command. With an 8K buffer,
changes may occur as much as a page
after you move the switch. Since the
buffer speeds up the printing process and
removes delays between printing
sessions, programs that do banners or
very dense screen dumps might overheat
your printer. You may need to pay atten-
tion to ventilation and build in 'rest
periods' on complicated projects.
Virtually every dot-matrix printer on
the market is supported. The manual also
states that any daisy wheel printer will
work. While the listing and ASCII trans-
lations would work, a daisy wheel printer
would not be capable of either custom
fonts or screen dumps. This interface
would therefore be a waste of money,
unless you have both kinds of printer.
The operational modes include 1525
Emulation, SuperGraphix mode, ASCII
conversion and transparent. The last dip
switch selects the printer as device 4 or 5.
All in all, the device performs well. It
does what it is supposed to. But there are
conflicts with some word processing soft-
ware, so you might want to try it first,
if at all possible. Xetec also markets a
wordprocessor that includes fonts
without using the interface. The Graphics
Sr. is on its third ROM revision, and the
company is responsive to its customers:
by mail and by telephone. Contact: Xetec,
Inc., 3010 Arnold Rd. r Sahna, KS 67401,
(913) 827-0685. □
Soi-ihcius Font
m 1 oak Fant
Bald Fant
Byts Font
Ens lish Font
Typewriter
Font
ridBTP°P « u
jou*
Mliioi Hon*
L. e; 3J Font
2o*~<~/3-£ ?•<•£
£)>ii)dcii,i Font
-i> tors Font
Hea I lr-(a I fc-i Four
A teonuo 1 «J Pont
J ± or 1 ± <= Font
These are some of the exotic fonts
provided with the Xetec
printer
interface.
September 1985 33
Reviewsj
BASIC-64
from Abacus Software
BASIC compiler
for Commodore 64
Review by Ranjan Bose
The BASIC-64 BASIC compiler is the
least expensive compiler I know of for the
Commodore 64. It allows two different
optimizations, and will produce either
speed-code, machine language, or a mix-
ture of both. It also permits overlay chain-
ing that, unlike the usual Commodore
chaining, makes the static strings (string
contained within program text) available
to successor programs in the chain.
Being an interpreted computer
language, BASIC is inherently slow. To
speed things up one can either use a
faster higher level language, or for
ultimate speed dive into machine
language programming. Before you jump
though, think about those piles of BASIC
programs you have collected or written!
Are you planning to convert those into
machine language as well? Well, there is a
convenient way of doing exactly that and
more — use a compiler! After a BASIC
program is in final shape, fully debugged
and running exactly as it should, bring in
the compiler. This will go through your
BASIC program and optimize it, arrang-
ing the sequence of code, collecting
variables after converting them into the
optimum form (integer or floating point),
and finally creating the appropriate ob-
ject code and attaching to it a proprietary
subprogram to execute the code during a
run (hence the name 'runtime module' or
'runtime library').
There are several compilers available
for the Commodore 64, costing 40 dollars
(US) and more. BASIC-64 cost me 47
dollars, including registered air-mail
charges. When I started using BASIC-64
I was pleasantly surprised. This was a
powerful program indeed. While most
available compilers convert a BASIC pro-
gram into p-code (pseudo- or speed-code),
BASIC-64 allows three options. You can
compile in p-code, which is more compact;
or in machine language (m-code), which
occupies more space but runs faster. You
can also mix both kinds in the same pro-
gram, thereby using the best features of
both. M-code is really effective for
speeding up deep-nested loops and sor-
ting routines.
The first step in using the compiler is to
load the main program from the copy-
protected, write-protected distribution
disk. A red copyright screen appears, and
the first menu appears on the screen. You
now replace the distribution disk with
your work disk bearing the BASIC pro-
gram to be compiled. The menu lets you
select one of the two optimizers/ com-
pilers, the overlay (chaining) feature, or
the second menu ('advanced development
features'). After you have selected the
compiling options, the compiler asks you
to provide the program name, which is
then compiled. A prefix of p- or m- is add-
ed to the filename to indicate the type of
code used. The second menu lets you
select or toggle parameters like p- or m-
code, limits of memory, starting address,
error handling, and merging or
separating runtime module from chained
subprograms (to save disk space). There
are also options for viewing the disk
directory or sending disk-housekeeping
commands (rename, scratch, and so on).
Optimizer-I, the default selection, is
compatible with the BASIC interpreter.
For most applications this is the most
convenient way to go. It handles floating
point variables but, where possible, one
should use integer variables for maximum
speed. I found the calculated floating
point results of compiled programs to
agree to about the seventh decimal place
with those of the original BASIC version.
Optimizer-II is something else! The
manual warns the programmer to use it
only with programs whose coding logic is
fully understood. This is because pro-
grams optimized/compiled by optimizer-II
are not compatible with the BASIC inter-
preter. In fact, you can run these pro-
grams with the BASIC ROM switched
out. This also means that error handling
is not automatic and must be attended to.
Also, since this mode uses integer
variables by default, floating point
variables must be specified with compiler
directives. If there are too many floating
point variables, one should use
optimizer-I.
Compiler directives are inserted in the
source code as REM statements: 10
REM® directive. They are used to
declare variables as integers or as
floating point. One interesting use is to
specify a FOR-NEXT loop variable as an
integer (not permitted normally), which
makes it execute faster while using less
stack space, which means that loops can
be nested deeper than is normally poss-
ible. Directives are used also to switch be-
tween m-code and p-code within a pro-
gram, or even to switch optimizers
(optimizer-II to handle sections of pro-
gram that use mostly integers and
strings, and optimizer-I for sections that
make heavy use of floating point), to free
memory space and for error handling.
The compiled code is comparable to and
even better than that generated by other
compilers. Charles Brannon recently
reviewed BLITZ! (Skyles)in Computel's
Gazette (January 1985) and, using a pro-
gram that sorts 100 3-character string
arrays reported that the BASIC version
ran in 119 seconds, while the BLITZJ--
compiled version ran in 27 seconds. I used
the same program with BASIC-64 and
got the following results:
P-version
M-version
Optimizer-I
43 sec
35 sec
Optimizer-II
21 sec
15 sec
The machine code optimized with
optimizer-II therefore ran almost eight
times faster than BASIC, and twice as
fast as that compiled by a program
costing almost twice as much! I consider
that very good indeed. The compiling
time reported for BLITZ! was about 20
per cent less than that required by
BASIC-64, a minor difference.
Compiled programs are considerably
bigger than the parent (BASIC) pro-
grams because of the runtime module.
This increase in the total size of compiled
programs is true for all compilers,
although the core program is smaller than
the BASIC version. The m-version is also
usually 20 to 50 per cent larger than the
corresponding p-version. If the increase
in speed is really significant, and if the
program is usually rerun several times
after loading, then it is worthwhile to use
m-code and wait a few seconds longer for
the program to load!
A program is compiled in two passes.
During the first pass, the code is optim-
ized. During the second pass, the pro-
gram is compiled, saved to disk and the
starting addresses of code, strings, and
so on are displayed. When 'READY'
finally appears you can go either to a
system cold start or back to the first
menu to compile another program. If
there were 'bugs' in your program, the
error message indicates the memory ad-
dress, and not the line number as in
BASIC. An option on the second menu
lets you instruct the compiler to generate
an address table on disk (Z-filename) dur-
ing compiling, which holds the line
numbers and the memory location of the
corresponding code. This can help in
34 TPUG Magazine
Rev lews j
debugging a compiled program. The table
can be loaded, and listed to the screen or
printer. Another option generates a sym-
bol table (S-filename) of the variables
used and their memory locations. This
can be read with program called Symbol
on the distribution disk.
In the overlay mode, you compile each
subprogram in sequence. In order to save
disk space and loading time, the runtime
module can be detached, to be shared by
all subprograms. In this case, the loading
instructions in the program chain should
be non-relocatable (use ,8,1). When you
load a machine language subprogram, the
program is run from beginning unless you
issue a special loading instruction in the
compiled program i'LOAD"filename".
8,128), which causes the first program to
continue from where it left off when the
load is complete.
Despite its low price and excellent cap-
ability, BASIC-64 suffers from a manual
that is in places sketchily or hurriedly
written.
Nowhere is it mentioned, for instance,
when one should use machine code and
when the pseudo code. In places there are
brief hints that compiler directives should
be used with compiler-II, but this is not
true — directives can be used in either
mode (see table). Furthermore, the 'N'
option that lists the directory is not even
mentioned. It appears that the manual
was not updated while the program was!
The overlay section is also weak. The
option of detaching runtime modules is
mentioned, but the exact procedure for
doing so is not described. Since the run-
time module is about 21 blocks long, and
by default gets attached to every sub-
program, it should be attached only to the
first program. By experimenting I found
that you should compile the first program
normally, then compile the first pass of
the subsequent program as usual. After
selecting the second pass of the overlay
option, you go to the second screen,
toggle option 'G' so that the runtime
module is switched off, then return to the
first screen and compile. This procedure
has to be repeated with each subprogram.
Also, the loading instructions for all sub-
programs should be nonreloca table.
In general, though, what is lacking in
the manual is more than made up by the
affordability, flexibility and power of the
compiler. In fact, for someone who is us-
ing CBM products and is used to the char-
acteristic sketchiness of their manuals,
the BASIC-64 manual would seem good!
Bottom line — despite the minor incon-
veniences, BASIC-64 is excellent value
for money and is highly recommended. C
G-Wiz
from Cardco
A serial to parallel
printer interface
Review by Ian A. Wright
Putting together a modular computer
system involves interfacing — attaching
the separate pieces together so that they
will work properly. Because Commodore
does not use common protocol standards
(especially noteworthy in the case of
Commodore's graphics protocol), at-
taching a non-Commodore printer to the
C-64 requires a translation device called
a printer interface. Unfortunately, the
printers do not have standard graphics
codes either, so this is where the G-Wiz
comes in . . .
The G-Wiz is Cardco's latest printer
interface to attach Centronics parallel
printers (like Epson, Star, NEC, C. Itoh,
TEO, et al) to the serial port of the C-64
or VIC 20. It allows your parallel printer
to run in 'emulation' mode, so that Com-
modore graphics programs work without
translation. Plug the interface into your
printer's parallel port, the serial connec-
tor to your drive, and the power line to
the computer's cassette port. Follow the
manual to set the eight dip switches (ex-
posed on the interface surface) to work
with your parallel printer. You can select
6 or 8 bit character sets, transparent
mode, character swap, auto line-feed,
printer device number, and three other
configuration switches. It's easier to do
than to write about.
Why the G-Wiz? It's cheaper, faster
and easier to work with than the earlier
Cardco +G interface, and includes a built-
in graphics buffer for high speed screen
dumps. I especially like program listings
that have cursor controls printed out in
words, because they are much more easily
read. The interface also provides built-in
translation of PETscii to ASCII character
codes, and comes with a fifty-page
manual, useful for both the new user and
the advanced programmer.
I printed a hard copy of this review for
TPUG Magazine through the G-Wiz at-
tached to my TEO daisy wheel printer,
and I had no trouble producing a fine
copy, once I remembered that while using
word processors like PaperClip, you
must first lock out the interface with
OPEN 4,4,25. The G-Wiz automatically
translated cursor controls in BASIC pro-
gram listings into words on both my
Epson and my TEO printers. The daisy
wheel, however, could not reproduce the
curly brackets around each command,
since ASCII hex values 7B and 7D are not
the same as on a Qume printwheel —
typical of the incompatibilities among
printers. I also appreciate being able to
turn linefeeds off, via the external dip
switches on the G-Wiz: (for instance,
when I'm using Printshop, by Broder-
bund). It sure beats the contortions
necessary to flick the switch inside my
Epson.
If that's still too much trouble, I could
arrange to have all the dip switches under
software control, read the existing switch
settings and change them easily.
Owners of earlier models in the Card-
co line can upgrade to the G-Wiz for 35
dollars (US) for +G owners, and 40
dollars for B owners, by sending payment
and the old interface to Cardco at: 300
S. Topeka, Wichita, Kansas 67202 (316)
267-6525. Judging from the reaction of
one +G owner who was shown the G-Wiz,
Cardco should prepare for lots of
exchanges.
Anyone who works with computers is
well aware that printer codes are a jungle
of incompatible standards. The Cardco G-
Wiz cuts a new path through the jungle
to provide a lot of desirable features for
the low price of $79.95 (Cdn.). I highly
recommend it. □
Creative Writer
from Creative Software
Word processor
for the Commodore 64
Review by Michael Quigley
Although it's a bit high-priced at $49.95,
Creative Writer is an easy-to-use word
processor well suited to novices.
It allows full-screen editing with true
word wrap, as well as features like
'search' (with or without 'replace'), dele-
tion and copying of any amount of text,
and previewing of text before printing.
Copy can be flush left, centred or
justified, and there are the usual options
to control the four margins of the printed
page, line spacing, heads, footers and
page numbering. Documents can be link-
ed together, and the program can be in-
tegrated with two other programs from
the same company, Creative Filer and
Creative Calc.
On the negative side, the program is
not easily made compatible with other
word processors. When formatting disks,
September 1985 35
Reviews — —
it does not allow input for disk name or
ID. The screen colours (black letters on
a grey background) can't be changed.
Also, you can't make use of any unusual
printer features, like expanded or con-
densed print, as well as underlines,
superscripts or subscripts, and
double-striking.
In addition to the above faults,
Creative Writer has two more problems
of a somewhat more serious nature. The
first is that my printer (a Gemini 10 with
Cardco A interface) will not put spaces
between paragraphs in the text, nor will
it do double, triple, or any other multiple
spacing — despite the fact that the
preview screen shows the document as it
should be printed correctly. After ex-
perimenting with a wide variety of inputs
and printer dipswitch settings, I wrote to
the manufacturer, pointing out that I had
never had this problem with several other
word processors, including Speedscript,
Write Now!, Quick Brown Fox and
Heswriter.
A second problem relates to the disk's
anti-copy protection , in the form of an er-
ror on track 2. My copy of the disk also
had an error on track 3, which was un-
fortunate, since four of the program's
'help' files happen to begin on that track!
Some time after I wrote complaining
about these two problems, I received a
new disk from the manufacturer, with a
letter claiming: "The problems you
discovered are caused by a disk duplica-
tion error. I am sending you a new . . .
disk with the error corrected." The new
disk proved to have exactly the same
faults as the old one. As well, the new one
would not load in, after running the one-
line program found in several users'
group magazines designed to keep the
head from knocking during the error.
In light of these problems, about the on-
ly recommendation I can make for
Creative Writer is "try it before you buy
it". □
Assembly Language
For Beginners
by William B. Sanders
from Microcomscribe
Review by Michael Quigley
Are you bewitched, bothered and
bewildered by assembly language?
Possessing knowledge about this subject
is much like belonging to some kind of
secret society where you need passwords
to enter, and where you dabble in a lot
of a arcane mumbo-jumbo, once admitted.
There are numerous books designed to
initiate novices into these mystical rites,
but most of them have one thing in com-
mon: they are written for people who
already know assembly language. For-
tunately, there are a few books recently
available written for the average person.
One of these is Assembly Language for
Kids: Commodore 64, by William B.
Sanders.
Its title is deceptive, since the book is
not really designed for kids, but rather
for people who want to have "a good time
learning assembly language". It's writ-
ten in a chatty, easy-to-understand style,
as opposed to the advanced scientific
jargon adopted by many other books on
6502 and 6510 programming.
The number of examples in the book is
one of its major strengths. These ex-
amples range from a short subroutine
that clears the screen to the design of a
"noisy space sprite" . In order to enter the
examples, a simple 'Kids' Assembler' is
included in the book, which you can either
type in or obtain on disk with other
utilities from Microcomscribe, at an ad-
ditional cost often dollars. This assembler
has a minimal editor, uses non-standard
op-codes, and is somewhat slow, since it's
wTitten in BASIC. The examples can also
be entered with the Merlin 64 assembler,
which author Sanders describes as "the
best available for the 64", or the Macro
Assembler Development System from
Commodore.
For the most part, Sanders proceeds
from Point A to Point B, telling the
reader that everything will eventually fall
into place, even if some matter is not fully
understood at the moment. He occasion-
ally drags in an op-code or procedure that
is not afterwards explored in sufficient
detail, which might be a red herring to
some readers.
It should be emphasized that this book
doesn't deal with all the assembly
language op-codes. It tries to teach the
reader "how to learn to use the fun-
damental operations well and understand
their use clearly rather than try and learn
everything at once and not understand
what you're doing." At its conclusion,
Sanders gives some suggestions for books
and magazines that might help with fur-
ther study.
The only negative feature of this book
is an annoying number of typographical
errors; surprising, because Microcom-
scribe's motto is "literate microcomputer
documentation". Some of these occur in
the programs, which may cause confusion
for novices. Hopefully, these errors will
be corrected in subsequent editions of this
otherwise excellent book. □
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Reviews:
WATCOM Pascal
from WATCOM
Editor, language disk
and tutorial
for the Commodore 64
$150.00 (Cdn.)
Review by Mike Norman
I am what you might call a 'nut' about
structured programming, and I think
Pascal is one of the best languages for
introducing people to it. It is also a very
good language in general.
I am in my third year at the University
of Waterloo, studying Computer Science.
I get exposed to many interesting (and
often bizarre) languages at school, as well
as at work. So when I left the classroom
and came home to my Commodore 64, 1
usually just sighed and thought:
"Wouldn't it be nice to have Pascal or C.
Anything is better than BASIC!".
Well, those days are over! Pascal for
the C-64 is here! It is a well-designed
product for use in educational institu-
tions, but the people at WATCOM will
also sell to hobbyists. The documentation
is written in a simple, stream-lined
fashion that is very good for both
classroom use and self-study. There is the
added advantage of having the sample
programs all on disk.
The editor is the famed Waterloo
Micro-Editor, very well known from the
SuperPET. This powerful full-screen
editor is built right into the cartridge, so
this is the environment that one 'powers-
up' in. The function keys do things
without taking up keys from the key-
board, with f8 as 'help' key to tell you
what all the other function keys do (a very
useful feature for me, since I go between
different editors at school and at work).
The editor is perfectly suited to
creating all your Pascal programs, as well
as any data files that you might like to
make. There is a command-line down at
the bottom of the screen. Most commands
are fairly self-explanatory — like dir,
load, get and put. The dos command will
send a string to the disk drive command
channel.
Device 4 is predefined as the printer,
and devices 8 to 11 are reserved for disk
drives. To save text that has been created
with the editor, the user simply types put
<dev#> "filename". If the device
number is omitted, it goes to the disk on
channel 8. If it is directed to device 4, the
file is printed and the filename is ignored.
One can see that no special codes or
special key-stroke sequences need be
memorized.
Once the user has plugged in the cart-
ridge and turned on the power, the editor
is ready. To use Pascal, type in: load
pascal (no ,8 or SYS needed). One can
get a previously-created Pascal source
file, or enter i, to get into input mode.
Okay, enough about the editor: now to
the juicy stuff! The Pascal implementa-
tion is very complete, with a lot of special
extensions to utilize the microcomputer
more efficiently. To save space (and your
valuable time), I'll say right now that this
Pascal conforms very closely to the pro-
posed ANSI and ISO standards. Many
people are concerned about portability. If
someone publishes a useful program, it
would be nice if anyone could just type
it in and run it. These standards commit-
tees aren't always successful, but the
work they do and the goals they try to
achieve are still noble ones, despite some
failures.
The standard Pascal gives you the
following constructs: If-then-else, while-
do, repeat-until, pointers, parameter
passing, recursion, local variables and
procedures.
One can declare the usual data types
('char', 'integer', 'real', 'boolean',
pointers, and arrays of any of these). If,
however, you would like to build your own
types of information, WATCOM Pascal
allows this also.
The exciting thing about WATCOM
Pascal — unlike some other Pascal imp-
lementations I've seen for the C-64 — is
that it also allows the programmer to
build 'records' of information. This abil-
ity to group information together, on a
logical basis, is very powerful.
WATCOM Pascal allows the usual 'pro-
cedure' and 'function' declarations. One
thing that is non-standard here is that you
cannot pass procedure-variables as
parameters to 'procedures' or 'functions'.
As usual, a 'function' can only return
'real' or 'ordinal' types. Parameter pass-
ing is either 'call by value' or 'call by
reference'.
WATCOM Pascal allows full use of
pointers, so that linked-lists can be set up,
or arrays of pointers. The only thing that
is not allowed is a file of pointers, which
is not unreasonable: files of pointers are
really only useful on large main-frame
systems.
Many non-standard string functions
have been implemented. These exten-
sions are really useful, and greatly add
to the ease of using the Pascal language.
In the case statement, WATCOM
allows for an else-clause, which really
helps in catching error conditions!
The pre-defined procedures reset and
rewrite have been modified so that a
string is passed back out to the Com-
modore operating system, and a name is
associated with the file you are reading
from or writing to. The creators of WAT-
COM Pascal have also implemented an
easy method of using relative files, and
there is a graphics library that one can
load in, too.
A whole series of procedures and func-
tions allows the programmer access to
the microcomputer directly: address,
bitread, bitset, bitreset and worksize
are but a few.
That's just about it. There are just two
more things that I want to mention: this
Pascal runs as an 'interpreter'. As we all
know from our own experience with
BASIC, this means siowl It's not all that
bad, but some graphics programs I've
tried to run took hours because of all the
calculations necessary!
As well, the amount of memory one has
to work with is a little small. The work
size is about 24K, and this is for both data
and program source. A big program,
therefore, shouldn't use a lot of data —
re-use data, whenever possible. This can
be a serious restriction for some applica-
tions. (My own pet project is a compiler.
These programs are large, involving hun-
dreds of lines of code. Whether or not I
get my compiler running is a function of
both computer memory and the amount
of time I spend on it! It remains to be seen
what will come of this.)
All in all, I give the WATCOM Pascal
a B + for results and an A for effort. Of
course, someone else may find this Pascal
completely inadequate for what they
want. The whole package costs $150.00,
which is a good price considering that
there is equally expensive software avail-
able that doesn't give you as much for
your money as the Micro-Editor alone! □
38 TPUG Magazine
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'home keys' and automatically evaluates
your typing performance, introducing you
to new keys in many gradual steps as your
skills develop. WORD INVADERS puts real
excitement into your touch typing practice
while reinforcing proper typing techniques.
"This is the best typing tutor we have seen yet; ****+"
INFO-64
"Best typing tutor I've seen — Better than Mastertype"
Microcomputer Courseware Evaluation
"WORD INVADERS is fantastic"
Editors of Consumer Guide
NEW! Commodore Plus/4 or 16 Tape $21.95 Disk $24.95
Commodore 64 Tape $21.95 Disk $24.95
VIC 20 (unexpanded) Tape $21.95
IFR (FLIGHT SIMULATOR)
Put yourself in the pilot's seat! This pro-
gram provides a very challenging, realistic
simulation of flying under Instrument Flight
Rules (IFR) in a single engine light plane.
Realistic instrumentation and aircraft per-
formance. Plenty of thrills for pilots and
non-pilots alike.
"It is tremendous fun." Compute's Gazette
"It's a great program, and as a pilot I found it to be very
realistic. My brother, a current commercial pilot and a
former Air Force flight instructor with over 3,500 hours in
military and civilian aircraft was also quite impressed."
Private Pilot
NEW! Commodore Plus/4 or 16 Tape or Disk $29.95
Commodore 64 Tape or Disk $29,95
VIC 20 (unexpanded) Cartridge $39.95
ACADcIilV *
SOFTH//1RE ■
P.O. Box 6277 San Rafael, CA 94903 (415) 499-08SO
Shipping and handling $1,00 per
offler CA residents add 6% taa.
THE WORLD OF
COMMODORE III
The 1984 Canadian
World of Commodore show was
the largest and best attended show
in Commodore International's
history. Larger than any other
Commodore show in the World
and this year's show will be
even larger.
World of Commodore III
is designed specifically to appeal
to the interests and needs of
present and potential Commodore
owners.
Everything about your
present or future Commodore
computer - from hardware to
software, Business to Personal to
Educational - from over 90
International Exhibitors. Price of
admission includes free
seminars, clinics,
contests and free
parking.
Bulletin Board
1985 Midwest Commodore Conference
The Greater Omaha Commodore Users Group
(GOCUG) will host the 1985 Midwest Commodore Con-
ference/Expo on Saturday, October 12, 1985 at the Holi-
day Inn Convention Center, 72nd and Grover St., Omaha,
Nebraska. Featured speakers include Jim Butterfield, disk
expert Richard Immers, and Valerie Kramer, who will con-
duct an introductory COMAL workshop. Registration fees:
GOCUG members. S15.00 (US); non-members, $20.00
(S25.00 after September 27).
Learn Computing At ESA
The Continuing Education Department is offering an ex-
panded selection of C-64 computer courses for adults this
fall. Adult day classes or evening courses will be offered at
Etobicoke School of the Arts, 675 Roya! York Rd., Etobicoke,
Ontario. Subjects include Microcomputer Familiarization for
Home and Business, Microcomputer Familiarization for
Seniors BASIC, Applications. Word Processing, and Using
a Database Manager. Register by mail before Sept. 1 1 (night
school), and before Sept. 20 (adult day classes). Cost:
S20-25, depending on course. Seniors (64 + ): free. For fur-
ther information, cail (416) 626-4360, Etobicoke Board of
Education.
Unclassified
This space is for the ads of TPUG members. Cost is
25 cents per word. No dealer ads accepted.
For Sale: Used 4040 Dual Drive, 4023 Printer, 2 cables and
Buscard I. Now $900.00. Just plug in your C-64. Call
519-745-6789.
CBM 8096, 8050, 8032P. Silicon Office, CalcResutt,
manuals, more. Best offer. Cail Ron 416-900-1994, days.
CBM 8032 with Disk 2031 and Printer 4023 TPUG and
other software included. Excellent condition $1300.
416-356-6018.
Wanted: Used SuperPET in good condition. Call. Scott
416-625-0930 (bus.)
4032 PET (Fat 40) with "Power & Graphics" chips, 2031
Disk Drive and 4022 Printer. All for $995.00 (US). Gerald
Carter 313-847-0426.
8032 with WordPro 4+ and InfoPro ($575.00), 4040
($325.00), ADA 1450 and ADA 1800 ($75.00 each). All, in-
cluding IEEE cable for $1,000. Call John 201-263-4538.
Business partners wanted for Commodore-based COM-
MERCIAL BBS's. Client pay, user free. Mature business
plan for indvidual BBS partnerships. Modest investment
required. Business concept for sole proprietorships also
available. Please write for preliminaries. Mr. R. Harris, 86
Runnymede Road. Toronto, Canada M6S 2Y3.
Megabyte - Megacheap!
1 Megabyte Disk Drive
for Commodore Computers
Manufactured by Commodore
SFD 1001 Disk Drive
The model SFD 1001 single floppy
disk unil uses a 100 Track Per Inch
(TPI), two-headed drive with a
storage capacity of 1,066.496 bytes
(characters) per disk Each SFD
1001 diskette has 154 tracks. 77 on
each side, and is read/write compat-
ible with the 8250 disk drives. A
single random access file may oc-
cupy an entire SFD 1001 diskette
Now store 5 times as
much data on your 5 '/; "
diskettes.
'IEEE Cable S49.00
• BUSCARD II S179.00
(required for C-64)
96 track- per- inch 1
megabyte 514" floppy disks
(box of 10) S49.00
MICRONET Unit #2. P.O. Box 925, New West, B.C. , V3L 5C3
FREE SHIPPING! Enclose Cashiers Check, Personal Check. Company
Check or Money Order. Also VISA. MASTERCARD and GO D, orders
welcomed. All prices listed are Canadian B.C. residents please add 7% PS,
tax.
Phone or Write lor a Free Catalog today!
24 Hour Order Line: (604) 526-6559
For VISA, MASTERCARD and C.O.D. orders only Please have name,
address phone number, products you wish to order, card number and expiry
date ready when calling.
LIMITED
TIME ONLY
$349.
C64
Provinciali
Payroll
A complete Canadian Payroll
System for Small Business.
• 50 employees per disk (1541)
• Calculate and Print Journals
• Print Cheques
• Calculate submissions summary
for Revenue Canada
• Accumulates data and prints T4s
• Also available for 4032, 8032,
PC-10 Commodore computers
Available from your Commodore dealer
Diltrlbjltd by:
ICROCOMPUTER SOLUTIONS
170 The Donway West, Suite 404
Don Mill, Ontario M3B 2G3
Tel: (416) 447-4811
40 TPUG Magazine
Announcing a New and Practical Application
ComputerEyes
What can be done with
ComputerEyes
• Make Custom T-SHIRTS, Scarfs, etc.
Computer art
Exchange "digitized" pictures
Pattern Recognition
Robotics
Literally hundreds of practical
applications
Capture real-world images
Plugs into the Game I/O port
Save "pictures" to disk
Print out all images with such
packages as ; PRINT SHOP, DOODLE,
NEWSROOM, KOALA, etc.
One year parts and labor warranty
High Quality B/W video camera also
available
Full software support
Join "free" public domain ART
GALLERY exchanges
ComputerEyes interfaces easily to
any source of standard NTSC or
industrial video. Including:
Video Tape Recorders
Video Cameras
Videodisks
TV Receivers with video outputs
Other computers
YES! I would like to make computer portraits.
YES! I want my computer to "see".
YES, Please send me ComputerEyes as follows:
_ C-64 ComputerEyes $109.00
_ Doodle Compatible Software 11.00
_ Print Shop Compatible Software 11.00
_ Koala Compatible Software 1 1.00
_ Flexi-Draw Compatible Software 11.00
_ PANASONIC/IKEGAMI Commercial grade
B/W video camera with interface cable ,• — 139.0D
"UNDERWARE" ribbons (to make iron-on transfers)
_ Black (for Epson MX 70/80/82, Okidata,
Star Gemini) 12.00
_ Color Pens (set of 5) 12.00
_ Jumbo Color Pen Set (set of 7) 15.00
_ lron-on Coloring Kit (Contains 20 Sheets of
transfer paper and a set of 5 pens) 15.00
FOR VISA/MASTER CHARGE ORDERS CALL Toll Free
l-{800)-523-2445, x48
(Pennsylvania residents call 800-346-7511, x48)
OR Send CHECK/Money Order and all inquiries to:
HAL Systems, P.O. Box 293, Scotch Plains, NJ 07076
Please Note: For COD Orders, add $5.00; NJ Residents
calculate 6% tax.
Prices include shipping and handling.
YOUR NAME
ADDRESS
HAL Systems, PO Box 293, Scotch Plains, NJ 07076
"Dealer Inquiries Invited*
Products Received.
The following products have been received
by TPUG Magazine in recent weeks.
Please note that these descriptions are
based on the manufacturers' own
announcements, and are not the result of
evaluation by TPUG Magazine.
Managing Money
Managing Money With Your Commodore
64 by Amihai Glazer, published by
Prentice-Hall Personal Computing
Series, Englewood Cliffs, NJ 07632.
Price: $20.95 (Cdn.)
Managing Money With Your Commodore
64 has been written for readers who have
no extensive financial or computer back-
ground, but would nevertheless like to
use their computers to perform varied
financial calculations. The book contains
listings of BASIC programs aimed at
helping the user evaluate and compare
different kind of loans, investments,
mortgages, savings plans, and such.
The author introduces readers to
business arithmetic, C-64 operations and
the use of the printer. He also briefly
describes tasks that are common to most
business programs.
Program listings are presented in the
following five chapters, each chapter
covering a different aspect of personal
and family finances (Calendar Proyrams,
Loans, Savings, Evaluating Investments
and Charge Accounts). All program
chapters follow a standard format: they
include the description of typical uses,
practical examples, lists of variables, brief
explanations of each important section,
variations (including both modifications
and extensions), related programs, out-
put from sample runs, and fully
documented listings.
PEEKS & POKES
PEEKS & POKES for the Commodore by
H.J. Liesert, published by Abacus Soft-
ware, P.O. 7211 Grand Rapids, MI 49510.
Price: $14.95 (US)
This is a book written for users who have
some grasp of BASIC but do not know
much about PEEKs and POKEs. The
author promises to take his readers on "a
trip together through the 64 's memory
and operating system". He has divided
the book into three parts. Part I answers
various questions about zero page,
memory map, binary arithmetic, video
RAM, high resolution graphics, sprites,
sound generation, keyboard, user ports,
and such. Part II provides short, useful
routines in BASIC. Part III features an
introduction to machine language, in-
cluding a monitor simulation program.
The last four sections of the book con-
tain program listings, explanations of
special symbols, memory map and an
index.
The Professor
The Professor from Progressive
Peripherals and Software, 2186 South
Holly, Suite #2, Denver, CO 80222. Price:
$34.95 (US).
i
i
Ihfl
- -
■
... ■ i
...
Professor screen with sprite tutorial
The Professor, a self -tutorial program for
Commodore 64 users, consists of two
volumes, one on each side of the program
disk.
Volume 1 of The Professor has no doubt
been written for first -time computer
users. It includes two sections '.Introduc-
tion to the C-64 Keyboard and Introduc-
tion to BASIC Programming. Besides
clear and thorough on-screen instruc-
tions, the tutorials present numerous
illustrations. In Introduction to the C-64
Keyboard, for example, The Professor
displays the keyboard, isolates the in-
dividual keys, flashes their location on the
keyboard, then defines their function.
Introduction to BASIC Programming
is divided into seven subsections, each ex-
plaining a different element of BASIC.
The following topics are covered: disks
and cassettes, BASIC commands,
variables, FOR loops and IF-THEN,
PRINT, INPUT and GET, PEEK and
POKE.
Volume 2 provides instructions on the
graphics and sound capabilities of the
Commodore 64. It consists of eight
lessons, six quizzes, a sound generator
and a sprite editor. Lessons on sound
begin with a brief explanation of the
theory of sound waves and music syn-
thesis. From there, the authors of The
Professor proceed to descriptions of the
Commodore 64's sound chip. Sound
effects and colour graphics enhance all
lessons.
Tutorials on graphics familiarize the
user with the C-64's video chip features.
As in the section, on sound, the user is
first introduced to basic concepts related
to graphics (for example, the C-64's
character set), and then more complex
subjects such as sprite theory and sprite
creation are demonstrated.
The Professor is a fully interactive pro-
gram, and the user can proceed through
the sections at his or her own pace.
ICCE News
The International Council for Computers
in Education offers parents and teachers
a chance to obtain a free packet explain-
ing how to help their children towards
computer literacy. To receive it, send
your name, address and request for the
Parent/Teacher Packet to: ICCE, Att: M.
Bhone, University of Oregon, 1787 Agate
Street, Eugene, OR 97403 USA.
The 1985 edition of the Educational
Software Preview Guide is now available
from ICCE at the price of $8.00 (US).
Contact: ICCE, University of Oregon,
1787 Agate Street, Eugene, OR 97403.
MITEY MO Modem
The upgraded version of the MITEY MO,
being marketed exclusively by Computer
Devices International of San Leandro,
CA, now includes the Smart 64 plus 4
terminal software in its new and en-
hanced package.
CDI is also providing technical support,
as well as a 48-hour turn around for any
units that may need repair.
Anyone who has purchased one of the
original MITEY MO packages, without
the new software, can upgrade it by con-
tacting CDI directly at (415) 633-1899.
They are selling the Smart 64 plus 4 ter-
minal software for $19.95 (US), plus
$3.00 (US) for shipping.
Presented by Astrid Kumas □
42 TPUG Magazine
For C-64, C-128 and Vic-20 computers
Pyro's Pyramid- Enjoy the ihrill of travelling back though time
and space to the ancient desert of LostSand. Adventure tftrougji
over 380 nxmsonsix different levels filled with monsters, mystery
and magic on your quest to find the missing Eternal FUrne. This
graphics/Text adventure game will delight and amaze you( C-64
& C-128)
Maze Blaster- Find your way through an enormous maze that
spans over 20 smooth- scrolling screens. Not only are there
ferocious monsters to contend with, but also the automatic doors
that open and close at irregular intervals. The dangers increase as
you progress through higher levels of difficulty. Fast and furious
arcade action.lC-64 &. C-128)
Basic Extension- This is one of the most advanced programming
utilities available anywhere. It adds over 30 commands to the
BASIC language that allows you to create your own games like
only the pros can. Simple commands eliminate long lines of
POKE statements that are next to impossible to decipher and
allow you to manipulate sound and sprites to suit any application
To make things even more useful, we have included an excellent
sprite editor that can be operated with a keyboard joystick, or any
graphics tablet.! C-«4 & C-128)
Character Pro TJ- This state of the artackancedcharactcr editor
will shock you with its power and simplicity. It has capabilities that
are not equalled by any other character editor on the market. You
will have to see it to believe iL(Vic/Sk)
Disk Versions S9.99
Tape Versions. ST. 99
For a free brochure with many more titles for the
C-64, C-128 and Vic-20. write to:
Omega Enterprises.
P.O. Box 1034. Station B.
Mississauga, Ontario, L4Y 3W3.
Ontario residents please include 7% P.S.T.
U.S. orders: Please pay in U.S. funds to coverextra costs
of shipping and handing.
Need help locating Commodore
magazine articles, program
listings and product reviews?
This and other widely read Commodore micro-
computer magazines and journals are now in-
dexed in PCdex' Magazine Resource Cuide.
PCdex " is the ideal solution for schools, librar-
ies, user groups, and at home — wherever Com-
modore microcomputer magazines are relied
upon as a valuable resource.
PCdex"" is currently available in (hese annual
volumes:
PCdex Annual™— 1985 Edition
[Apr'1964/Mar'85i for $16.95 ppd.
(S23.95 Canadianl
PCdex '"— 1984 Edition
[|.tn'B2/M.ir'8-1| for $1<).95 pprl,
($23.95 Canadianl
To order f or for more information, please
contact:
PCdex Publications
P.O. Box 563
Dayton. OH 45409
(513) 293-6679
See reviews of PCdex" in:
RUN. December 1984
The Midnite Software Gazette, Issue 2 1 , 1984
t Payment may be by check, money order, or VISA/
MasterCard. Please include card #, expiration dale,
and signature.
Dealer & Distributor Inquiries are welcome.
FASTER?
EASIER^
WORE POWERFUL?
"If languages interest you, this one is well worth a look... It's inexpensive to try.
You may find that it's just what you have been looking for."
- Jim Butterfleld COMFVTC!
"I can recommend a better, faster, and cheaper programming language.
It's a flashy little European import called COMAL...
the most user-friendly language around."
- Mark Brown. IKFO 64
"...overall COMAL averages out to about three times faster than BASIC"
- I-orrn Wright MICRO
"combines some of the best features of languages like Logo, Modula, Pascal,
and Ada in an easy-to-use format"
-AHOY!
COMAL was just what I was looking for."
- Colin Thompson. HUH
Where else do you get all this...
The complete COMAL 0.14 System for Commodore 64™ includes
the Tutorial Disk* (teaches you the fundamentals of COMAL), plus
the Auto-Run DEMO Disk* (demonstrates 26 COMAL programs
including games, graphics, sprites and sounds),
all for just $7.00.
You can add the reference book, COMAL from A to Z,
for just $4.00 more.
$7 or $11 - either way you're a winner!
COMAL STARTERS KIT
as rated by The Book Of Commodores 64 Software 1983.
Overall Rating A A Reliability
Ease of Use A A Error Handling
Documentation A A Value for Money
Published by Arrays, Inc., The Book Division
If you want only the best, get the COMAL Cartridge Pak.
Includes: 64K COMAL Cartridge, 2 books, and 5 demo disks'
Over $140.00 value - now only $89.95 plus $4.00 shipping.
For more information or to place an order call (608) 222-4432.
Visa or Master Card accepted.
All orders prepaid - no CO.D.
Send check or money order In U.S. dollars to:
COMAL USERS CROUP, U.S.A., LIMITED
6041 Monona Drive, *109, Madison, Wl 53716
phone: (608) 222-4432
"Shipments may Include 2 disks of programs on ! double sided rflsfcrrle
Commodore 64 is a trademark of Commodore Electronics.
FREE - DATA BASE
Bayside Computerized Insurance
Shopping Data Base.
BRAND-NEW!
Join the growing group who are taking
advantage of this FIRST ever in Canada
service. Available to all computer and
modem users.
Take advantage of our electronic insur-
ance shopping & information store: no
cost, no obligation, no time, no hassle!
We do all your comparison shopping -
FREE No need to shop around for com-
petitive rates we'll do all that for you... at
NO COST.
When you use Bayside Computerized
Insurance Shopping Data Base, you
access a 24 hour-a-day, 7 day-a-week ser-
vice. We meet your needs, when you
need them met.
CALL NOW - DATABASE: 831-0666
VOICELINE: 831-1166
Envoy I.D. Bayside-lnsce
1730 MacPherson Court, Unit 19, Pickering Ont.
Mail: P.O. Box 331, Pickering, Ontario. L1V 2R6
THE TEACHERS AIDE
ATTENTION PARENTS AND TEACHEflS
with
PET/CBM (Basic 4.0| or COMMODORE 64 SYSTEMS
MATHEMATICS PROGRAMS TO AID THE TEACHER AID THE STUDENT
Requires compalible disk drive and Commodore printer
Explicitly produced exercise sheets in mathematics, standard in si^e variable
as to difficulty level, and unlimited in number most witn menu-presentation
ottering all operations Answers provided, tailored to m-class requirements
Six programs in MATHEMATICS. BASIC SKILLS, ottering integers decimals
tractions and percent Ten programs in ALGEBRA, ottering linear equations
simultaneous equations, fractional equations, quadratics and signed and
complex number drill
USES VERY LITTLE COMPUTER TIME
PET/CBM'8050. one disk S100 00
PET/CBM/2040.4040'2031. two disks . SI 05 00
Commodore 64'alt dish drives one disk S100O0
(Works through IEEE interface!
SPECIFY COMPUTER SYSTEM CONFIGURATION
Add S2 50 tor postage and handling
(In Arizona, add 5 a * sales tax)
TA1DE SOFTWARE COMPANY
P O BOX 65
EL MIHAGE ARIZONA 85335
ATTENTION
ALL COMMODORE 64,
VIC 20, COMMODORE 16,
AND PET OWNERS
A complete self-tutoring BASIC programming course
is now available. This course starts with turning
your computer on, to programming just about
anything you want! This course is currently used
in both. High School and Adult Evening Education
classes and has also formed the basis of teacher
literacy programs. Written by a teacher, who after
having taught the course several times, has put
together one of the finest programming courses
available today. This complete 14 lesson course
of over 230 pages is now available for the COM-
MODORE 64, VIC 20, COMMODORE 16 and PET
computers and takes you step by step through a
discovery approach to programming and you can
do it all in your leisure time! The lessons are filled
with examples and easy to understand explanations
as well as many programs for you to make up. At the
end of each lesson is a test of the information
presented. Furthermore, ALL answers are supplied
to all the questions and programs, including the
answers to the tests. Follow this course step by
step', lesson by lesson, and turn yourself into a
real programmer! You won't be disappointed!
We will send this COMPLETE course to you at
once for just $19.95 plus $3.00 for shipping and
handling (U.S. residents, please pay in U.S. funds).
If you are not COMPLETELY satisfied, then simply
return the course within 10 days of receipt for a
FULL refund.
Fill in the coupon or send a facsimile.
NAME:.
TP
ADDRESS:.
CITY:.
PROV./STATE:
POSTAL/ZIP CODE:.
Check desired course:
COMMODORE 64 Z
VIC D PET u
COMMODORE 16 □
Send Cheque or Money Order to:
Brantford Educational Services
6 Pioneer Place, Complete course: $19.95
Brantford. Ontario, Postage and hand.: $3.00
Canada N3R 7G7
Total:
S22 95
Ask Someone Who Knows
If you enjoy Jim Strasma's many books, and his
articles in this and other magazines, you'll be glad
he also edits his own highly-acclaimed computer
magazine, now in its sixth year of continuous
publication. Written just for owners of Com-
modore's many computers, each Midnite Software
Gazette contains hundreds of brief, honest
reviews.
Midnite also features timely Commodore"
news, hints and articles, all organized for instant
reference, and never a wasted word. Whether you
are just beginning or a long-time hobbyist, each
issue will help you and your computer to work
together effectively.
A six issue annual subscription is $23. To
subscribe, or request a sample issue, just write:
MIDNITE SOFTWARE GAZETTE
P.O. Box 1747
Champaign, IL 61820
You'll be glad you did!
COMAL
REFERENCE GUIDE
Sixty-four pages outlining all the C64 COMAL
keywords, with sections on the language's superb
String Handling, Procedures and Parameters,
Expressions and Standard Functions. $9.95
COMAL
Reference Guide
* «», $m **\ .
by Dorge R. Christensen
Vi&\ o tarewonj by Jm BirtterfieW
Send cheque or money order to:
TPUG Inc., Dept. A., 1912 Avenue Rd., Ste. 1,
Toronto, Canada M5M 4A1
COMSPEC
Authorized Commodore dealer since 1978.
866 Wilson Ave., Downsview
(Between Dufferin & Keele)
(416) 633-5605
Call our 24 hour B.B.S.
633-0185
• Hardware • Software • Books •
• Accessories • Service •
C POWER
Os» SirSed C Ln^itge
Compter Ppdnxje lor
[fw CoHYnorior* 54' '
b( Hr,inH Ich.i
Thtikaur-
'A fnjar |„.r Tlun^k U'
A C LANGUAGE
COMPILER FOR THE
COMMODORE 84"
$129.95
VIZASTAR
64
VIZAHTARO-I
A A A
$179.95
$189.95
PROLINE
■niiiiarrwARi
GT4
$49.94
INFO
DESIGNS
Management
Accounting
Software
Solutions
GL AR AP
INV MANAGEMENT
$79.95ea.
PKG.
10
BULK
DISKS
SSDD
$15.95
1 0% discount to TPUG members
on Software, books and accessories,
excluding sale items.
TPUG Library available for copy
Phone orders only accepted
Visa / MasterCard / Amex
m
Calendar of TPUG Events.
Meeting Places
Brampton Chapter: Central Peel Secondary School, 32 Ken-
nedy Rd. N. on the second Thursday of the month, at 7:30 pm
in the Theatre.
Business Chapter: TPUG Office, 101 Duncan Mill Rd., Suite
G-7, Don Mills, on the dates listed below, at 7 pm.
Central Chapter: Leaside High School, Bayview & Eglinton
Aves. on the second Wednesday of the month, at 7:30 pm in
the auditorium. For 'advanced' computerists.
COMAL Chapter: York Public Library, 1745 Eglinton Ave. W.
(just east of Dufferin) on the last Thursday of the month, at 7:30
pm in the Story Hour Room (adjacent to the auditorium). Note:
location may change in October — for latest information call
445-9040.
Commodore 64 Chapter: York Mills CI, 490 York Mills Rd. (east
of Bayview) on the last Monday of the month, at 7:30 pm in the
cafetorium.
Eastside Chapter: Dunbarton High School (go north on Whites
Rd. from the traffic lights at Highway 2 and Whites Rd. to next
traffic Sights; turn left to parking lots) on the second Monday
of the month, at 7:30 pm.
Communications Chapter: York Public Library, 1745 Eglinton
Ave. W. (just east of Dufferin) on the first Wednesday of the
month, at 7:30 pm in the Story Hour Room (adjacent to the
auditorium). Note: location may change in October — for latest
information call 445-9040.
SEPTEMBER
MON
TUES
WED
THURS
2
3
VIC 20
4
Communications
5
9
Eastside
10
Hardware
11
Central
12
Brampton
16
17
18
SuperPET
19
Westside
23
New Users
24
25
Business
26
COMAL
30
Commodore 64
Hardware Chapter: York Public Library, 1745 Eglinton Ave.
W. (just east of Dufferin) on the second Tuesday of the month,
at 7:30 pm in the Story Hour Room (adjacent to the auditorium).
New Users Chapter: TPUG Office, 101 Duncan Mill Rd., Suite
G-7, Don Mills, on the dates listed below, at 7 pm.
SuperPET Chapter: York University, Petrie Science Building
(check in room 340). Use north door of Petrie to access building.
On the third Wednesday of the month, at 7:30 pm.
VIC 20 Chapter: York Public Library, 1745 Eglinton Ave. W.
(just east of Dufferin) on the first Tuesday of the month, at 7:30
pm in the auditorium.
Westside Chapter: Clarkson Secondary School, Bromsgrove
just east of Winston Churchill Blvd. (south of the QE W) on the
third Thursday of the month, at 7:30 pm in the Little Theatre.
For PET/CBM/VIC 20/Commodore 64.
The TPUG Annual Meeting on October 3rd will be held at Leaside
High School, Bayvieiv & Eglinton Aves., at 7:30 pm. All 'regular'
members of TPUG are welcome to attend.
TPUG makes every effort to ensure that meetings take -place when
and where scheduled. However, unforeseen problems may occa-
sionally arise that lead to a particular meeting being changed
or cancelled. The TPUG meetings line (445-9040) is the best source
of fully up-to-date information on meeting times, and should be
consulted.
Are you interested in organizing some other interest group in
the Greater Toronto area? Please let the club office know, by mail,
phone, or TPUG bulletin board.
OCTOBER
MON
TUES
WED
THURS
1
VIC 20
2
Communications
3
Annual
Meeting
7
8
Hardware
9
Centra!
10
Brampton
14
Eastside
15
16
SuperPET
17
Westside
Central
21
New Users
22
23
24
28
Commodore 64
29
Business
30
31
46 TPUG Magazine
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TPUG Magazine
Distributors
Dealers: If you would like to carry TPUG Magazine in
your store, you may order from any one of the following
distributors:
CANADA
Compulit Distributors, Port Coquitlam, BC 604-464-1221
USA
Prairie News, Chicago, IL 312-384-5350
Levity Distributors, North Hollywood, CA 818-506-7958
Whole Life Distributors, Englewood, CO 303-761-2435
M-6 Distribution, Houston, TX 713-778-3002
The Homing Pigeon, Elgin, TX 512-276-7962
Northeast News Distributors, Kingston, NY 914-382-2000
Fred Bay News Co., Portland, OR 503-228-0251
Alonso Book = Periodical, Alexandria, VA 703-765-1211
Cornucopia Distribution, Seattle, WA 206-323-6247
Guild News, Atlanta, GA 404-252-4166
Micro-PACE, Champaign, IL 800-362-9653
DIADACS 1 «» TAKE CONTROL
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DIGITAL OUTPUT 10UNE
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REAL TIME CLOCK
* i? PIT RESCLunmi - i/d COeJiBTtK JO Conversions wr second, rj tfl '0 voll tr<oul. ConuoLlH
frtm Basic or. *jcMt Langwao*. * l? BU DIGITAL ID Wl*L0G CWVtfllEP • to TQ veil out But. *
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DlftrJS-Cg 1 cces ccroLele with user's ^ai-xjal and softuare Oriuer.
Rise** led ana te-stpd S279.rjrj US Dollars.
Rod $3,00 fni snipping u.s.fi. 5end cnec^, rww order, or HC/VISA,
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C!f G l 5 . . _ _ \ P.O. Box 102 ■ LANGHOWJE. PA 19047
MICROTECH] . WB)7 „. 02M
Expand
Past
Maximum
Capacity!
The Tech/News Journal Fa Commodore ComDuters
Al better book stores everywhere! Or 6 issues delivered to your door
for just $1 5.00 (Overseas $21 U.S. Air Mail $40 U.S.)
The Transactor. 500 Steeles Ave. Milton, Ontario. L9T 3P7.
416 878-8438
Also check out The Transactor Disk and The Complete Commodore
Inner Space Anthology - to us, expansion knows no limits!
Academy Software
39
Batteries included
BC
Batteries Included Correction
27
Bayside
44
Brantford Educational Services
44
CGRS Microtech
47
COMAL Users Group, USA
43
Comspec Communications
21,45
Cricket Distribution Co.
47
Desk Top Computers
IBC
Electronics 2001
11
The Guide
9
HAL Systems
41
Hunter Nichols
39
Intelligent Software
39
King Microware
!FC
Microcomputer Solutions
40
Micronet
40
Midnite Software Gazette
45
Omega Enterprises
43
PCdex Publications
43
Phase 4
3,5
T'Aide Software
44
TPUG (Change of Address)
17
TPUG (COMAL Reference Guide)
45
TPUG (OS/9)
13
TPUG (OS/9 Software)
7
TPUG (Monthly Disk)
37
The Transactor
47
TPUG Contacts
TPUG OFFICE 416/445-4524
TPUG BBS 416/429-6044
TPUG MEETINGS INFO 416/445-9040
Board of Directors
President
Michael Bonnycastle 416/654-2381
Vice-President
Chris Bennett
c/o416/445-4524
Treasurer
Carol Shevlin
c/o4 16/445-4524
Recording Sec.
John Shepherd
416/244-1487
Rosemary Beasley c/o4 16/445-4 524
Gord Campbell
416/492-9518
Gary Croft
416/727-8795
Mike Donegan
416/639-0329
Bill Dutfield
416/224-0642
John Easton
416/251-1511
Carl Epstein
416/492-0222
Keith Falkner
416/481-0678
Gerry Gold
416/225-8760
Rob Lock wood
416/483-2013
Louise Redgers
416/447-4811
General Manager
Louise Redgers
416/445-4524
TPUG Magazine
Publisher
Louise Redgers
416/445-4524
Editor
Nick Sullivan
416/445-4524
Assistant Editor
Marya Miller
416/445-4524
Ad Director
Louise Redgers
416/445-4524
Meeting Co-ordinators
Brampton Chapter
Garry Ledez
c/o4167445-4524
Central Chapter
Michael Bonnycastle
C-64 Chapter
Louise Redgers
416/447-4811
COMAL Chapter
Donald Dalley
416/742-3790
Victor Gough
416/677-8840
Communications
Darrell Grainger
c/o416/445-4524
Eastside Chapter
Judith Willans
c/o416/445-4524
Darren Fuller
c/o416/445-4524
Hardware Chapter
c/o416/445-4524
SuperPET Chapter Gerry Gold
416/225-8760
VIC 20 Chapter
Rick Adlard
416/486-7835
Anne Gudz
c/o416/445-4524
Westside Chapter
John Easton
416/251-1511
Al Farquharson
519/442-7000
Librarians
COMAL
Victor Gough
416/677-8840
PET
Mike Donegan
416/639-0329
SuperPET
Bill Dutfield
416/224-0642
VIC 20
Richard Best
c/o416/445-4524
BBS Sysop (voice)
Tom Shevlin
c/0416/445-4524
Assistant Sysop
Carol Shevlin
c/o416/445-4524
DESKTOP COMPUTER INC.
is phased to announce
THEIR NEWEST LOCATION
SPECIAL SAVINGS JUST FOR TPUG MEMBERS DURING THE MONTH OF
SEPTEMBER
PICK YOUR COMBINATION AND SAVE
i
■
c
D
E
F
6
H
64
computer
S^v
ABi
ggpv
gSglv
4JMBBV
kditidjjl
Pries
*22a
1541
Disk
Drive
■■
mm
K
as
K
Individual
Prio
1702
Colour
Monitor
s
9
u
a
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Individual
Prioa
1526
Dot
Matrix
Printer
-S
S^
S.
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Individual
Pries
PRICE
$ 498.
$ 498.
M98.
$ 598.
$ 598.
$ 598.
$ 798.
M098.
OPTIONAL PRINTERS
$
ESPON
1X8064
HL1
COMMODORE INTERFACE INC.
499.
TEO
CP80
OUT
$
299.
INTERFACE EXTRA
DPS
1101
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$
499.
LETTER QUALITY
0KIMATE1O
COLOUR
ONLT
INTERFACE INC
$
359.
laaaaai
$10.
with this coupon
OFF any Software
purchase of $39.95
reg. price, or more
Expires Sept. 30/85
with this coupon
1c n/ off an v io p ack
■^ ^/f% of Reg. Priced
U /U Diskettes
Expires Sept. 30/85
COMMODORE AUTHORIZED SERVICE
WE OFFER A COMPLETE REPAIR FACILITY WITH A FULLY TRAINED TECHNICAL STAFF
ON PREMISES.
ENQUIRE ABOUT OUR LOW PRICED TEACHERS PACKAGES
TRADE UP TO C128's OR PC 10's
DESKTOP COMPUTER INC,
'The Bayview Plaza', 10610 Bayview Avenue, Richmond Hill . 737-0827
MUST BRING THIS AD WITH YOU
BATTERIES ^7 INCLUDED
"The Energized Software Company!"
We started with Commodore, designing pro-
grams that quickly became industry success
stories. Now we're moving on, applying our
expertise to other systems.
Look for Apple, Atari, IBM, and Commodore
software with the
Batteries Included label!
"The best Atari word-
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ANTIC MAGAZINE
"...capable of very large
and complicated searches
...a very good system."
TPUG MAGAZINE
Alsotti ^OLUOliD:
problem-solving spreadsheet program with built-in
templates for the most-needed home and business applications
- including income tax. budgets and many more.
professional quality graphics/charting and
statistical analysis package turns your data into superb
visuals.
essional sales management and reporting
program saves you valuable hours.
easy to follow tutorial program typing
teacher.
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Look forward to excellence, in every respect.
Power and performance, ease of use, incredi-
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ays.
"Performance: excellent .
Error-Handling: excellent
Value: excellent"
FAMILY COMPUTING
(a "Billboard" magazine
#1 bestseller)
BI X
"quite simply the best
... the highest rating possible.'
ANALOG COMPUTING
: learn about the bard's three
most-taught plays - and have funl (Other authors
on the way.)
add-on module doubles your
screen capacity and improves
visibility.
home database
managers. 18 programs
including Home Inventory,
Recipes, CheckBook,
Address Book, Audio/
Video Catalogue and morel
30 Mural Street
Richmond Hill, Ontario
L4B IBS CANADA
1416)881-9941
lerex: 06-21-8290
BATTERIES ^? INCLUDED
The Energized Software Company!"
WRITE TO US FOR FULL COLOUR CATALOGUE ol our products for COMMODORE. ATARI. APPLE arid IBM SYSTEMS.
FOR TECHNICAL SUPPORT OR PRODUCT INFORMATION PHASE PHONE |41E) 881-9816-
SOME PROGRAMS ARE NOT AVAILABLE FOR ALL SYSTEMS.
,7875 Sky Park North, Suite P
Irving, California
USA 92714
(416)881-9816
Tetex; 509-139
Commodore, Apple, Atari and IBM PC are registered trademarks of Apple Computers, Inc., Atari, Inc., Commodore Business Machines, Inc., and International Business Machines, respectively
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